Search for a custom paint by number kit and every shop says the same things: premium canvas, vivid paints, your photo turned into art. The product photos all look alike too. The differences that decide whether the finished painting looks like your dog or like a brown blur sit further down the page, in details most people skim.
These are the seven things we would compare before ordering from anyone, us included.
1. Does a person look at your photo before it is printed?
This matters more than anything else on the list. Software will turn any file into a numbered canvas, including a blurry, dark screenshot. The result is technically a kit, and nobody enjoys painting it.
Look for a shop that says, in plain words, what happens when a photo is not good enough. Do they email you and ask for a better one, or print whatever arrives? At Artistry By Numbers we open every file before printing, and if it is too small or too dark we write back instead of shipping something disappointing. Whoever you buy from, you want that step to exist.
2. How many colors, and can you choose?
A tracing reduces your photo to a fixed number of flat colors. That number sets the ceiling on detail.
- 24 colors suits bold images: a landscape, a simple still life, an illustration.
- 36 colors starts to handle soft shading, which is where pets begin to look like themselves.
- 48 colors is what we recommend for faces, groups and animals with complicated fur.
A kit that lists no color count, or offers only one, is making that decision for you. Our color guide explains what each level can and cannot render.
3. Canvas size against the size of your photo
Bigger canvases need bigger files. A photo that looks sharp on a phone can fall apart at 20"x26". Serious shops publish a minimum resolution. Ours is 1500 pixels on the shortest side, 2500 for the largest size. If a shop sells a 24"x32" canvas and never mentions resolution, ask before you pay.
Also check that the sizes are real inch measurements and that at least one fits a standard frame. For reference, 16"x20" is the size most of our customers pick, and 12"x16" fits a standard frame size.
4. What is actually in the box
Kits vary more here than the listings suggest. The list worth checking for:
- A canvas printed with numbered outlines, and whether it arrives rolled or stretched.
- Paints matched to your photo, not a generic 24-pot set.
- Several brush sizes, including one fine enough for small sections.
- A printed copy of the reference image, so you can check colors as you go.
- Instructions.
You can see exactly what ships in our kits on a separate page. Whoever you compare, if the contents are vague, assume the cheaper version.
5. Frame or no frame
A framed kit costs more and ships in a bigger box. An unframed canvas is cheaper and lets you pick a frame that matches your room once the painting is done. Some shops, us included, offer a DIY wooden frame kit as an option you add at checkout. Read the option name before you pay: "canvas only" and "framed" are often the same listing at two prices.
6. The real delivery timeline
"Fast shipping" on a custom product rarely means what it says. Every custom kit has two stages: making it, then shipping it. A shop that gives you only one number is hiding the other.
Ours, stated separately: 1 to 3 business days to check the photo and make the kit, then 7 to 15 business days in transit, with tracking, free to the US. If you are ordering for a date, we worked out the order-by dates for Christmas 2026 from the slow end of that range.
7. The total price, not the headline price
Compare the price for the configuration you actually want: your size, your color count, with or without frame, shipping included. A kit advertised from a low price often quotes the smallest canvas at 24 colors. By the time you pick 16"x20" and 48 colors, the ranking between shops can flip.
Check whether shipping is added at checkout, and whether a multi-kit discount applies if you are buying several gifts. On our store, shipping to the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia and New Zealand is free, and the price for each option shows on the custom kit page as you select it.
A short checklist
| Question | A good answer |
|---|---|
| Is the photo checked before printing? | Yes, with a stated process if it is rejected |
| Colour count | A choice, ideally up to 48 |
| Minimum photo resolution | Published, and higher for bigger sizes |
| Paints | Mixed for your photo |
| Frame | Clearly marked as included or optional |
| Delivery | Making time and transit time given separately |
| Price | Compared on your exact size and color count, shipping included |
Where to go from here
If you have a photo in mind, read what makes a good photo for a custom kit first. It will tell you whether your picture needs 36 or 48 colors and which size suits it. Then start your custom kit, or browse pet portrait examples to see how fur and eyes come out once painted.
