Which photo for a personalised children's book?

The four things that matter

The face should be seen from the front, not in profile and not from above. Both eyes, the nose, the mouth: from these the drawn figure is made. A slightly angled look is fine, a half-covered face is not.

Daylight is better than flash. By the window, on the balcony, in the garden on a cloudy day: then the face has no hard shadows and no red eyes.

Nothing in front of the face: no hat, no sunglasses, no dummy, no hand. Ordinary glasses are fine.

And sharp: a photo where the face is about the size of a coin on the screen is enough. A blurred photo with a tiny face is not. What a personalised children's book is beyond that is in the guide.

What works, even if it is not perfect

A phone snapshot of the child laughing is better than a stiff studio portrait. The laugh comes through in the drawing.

A photo with other people in it works if the child's face is clearly visible; the others are not drawn. A photo with messy hair works, the hairstyle is taken as it is. A photo from a year ago works too, only the figure then looks the way the child did then.

Glasses, a gap tooth, freckles, curls: everything that makes the child who they are may be in the photo and goes into the drawing. That is exactly the difference from a book where only the name is filled in; on the page children's book with photo you see how a photo becomes the figure.

What does not work

Five photos the drawing does not come out well from:

• The child in profile or from behind.
• Sunglasses, a hat pulled low, face paint.
• Backlight, where the face is dark and only the sky is bright.
• A group photo where the face is a few pixels wide.
• A photo of a photo, taken from a frame, with reflections.

At Amberro you see the finished book first as an eBook for €7.99. If the figure does not look enough like the child to you, reply to the e-mail and a person looks at it. It remains a drawing from the photo, not a copy, and no honest maker gives a likeness guarantee.

What happens to the photo

The photo is used for the books you order, and for nothing else: not for advertising, not for other customers, not to pass on. At Amberro that is in the privacy notice, and we keep to it.

You upload the photo in the first step of ordering, from a phone or computer. Then you enter the name and age, choose the story and write the dedication. The eBook arrives by e-mail, usually the same evening.

If you do not have the photo yourself because the grandchild lives with the parents, have it sent by message; a phone photo is enough. Questions about delivery and the photo are also answered on the questions and answers page.

One photo, several books

For a second book of the same child you can use the same photo again; the figure then looks the same in both books. For another child you need their own photo and make their own book, with their own name and dedication.

Siblings together in one book we do not offer; each child gets their own book in which they alone play the lead. For the big brother or sister at a baby's birth there is a story of its own.

How to make the book in three steps, photo, name and dedication, is on the home page.