Prices checked July 2026.
In the UK, a custom pet portrait costs roughly £40 to £120 as a digital file, £80 to £200 as a printed canvas, and £150 to £600 or more as an original painted or drawn commission. An embroidered pet portrait stitched onto clothing starts at around £55. What you pay depends on the medium, the number of pets, and whether design revisions and delivery are included or charged separately.
Key takeaways
- Digital files are cheapest. Original commissions cost the most. Embroidery sits in between.
- Medium drives price more than anything else, including the artist's reputation.
- Framing (£50 to £900) and shipping (£10 to £50) are often quoted separately.
- Each extra pet typically adds cost, because it is more design work and more production time.
- Embroidery costs more than print because every design must be digitised first.
- Thread colours are selected shade by shade to match the coat, which print never needs.
- Many sellers charge for revisions. Check before you pay, not after.
- Under about £25, you are usually buying a template or an automated image, not a portrait.
What do custom pet portraits actually cost in the UK?
There is no single market price, because "pet portrait" covers about six different products that happen to share a name. A digital file emailed to you and an oil painting on canvas are not competing for the same money. The table below is the honest spread across formats, and it is the comparison most pricing pages skip.
| Format | Typical UK price | What you actually receive |
|---|---|---|
| Digital portrait file | £40 to £120 | An image file. You arrange your own printing and framing |
| Printed canvas or framed print | £80 to £200 | A printed reproduction, usually from a digital design |
| Embroidered portrait on clothing | From around £55 | A finished garment with the portrait stitched into the fabric |
| Original drawn commission (pencil, pastel, coloured pencil) | £100 to £400 | One physical artwork, usually unframed and unmounted |
| Original painted commission (oil, acrylic, watercolour) | £300 to £600, rising into the thousands | One physical painting, often on canvas or board |
| Framing, if you need it | £50 to £900 | Mount, frame and glazing, quoted per piece |
| UK shipping on original artwork | £10 to £50 | Tracked and insured delivery, sometimes included |
Two figures in that table catch people out. Framing on an original commission can cost more than a whole embroidered garment. And a digital file at £60 is not the finished price if you then spend £80 getting it printed and framed properly.
A customer photo, and the same dog designed from it and stitched in thread.
Why does embroidery cost more than a printed pet portrait?
A print is applied to a garment in seconds by a machine reading an image file. Embroidery cannot work that way. The design first has to be digitised into a thread pattern, thread colours have to be selected shade by shade to match the coat, and each piece is stitched one at a time. That is skilled work and machine time that print simply does not need, which is why the price sits higher.
The difference shows in the finished piece, and it is easiest to see in daylight. Thread has direction, so stitched fur catches the light differently as you move, in a way a flat printed surface never does. It also has physical height. Run a thumb across an embroidered portrait and you can feel where the muzzle ends and the ear begins.
Thread has direction and height. A printed surface has neither.
Durability is the other half of it. Print sits on top of the fabric, so with regular washing and wear it cracks, fades and eventually peels. Embroidery is thread worked into the fabric itself, so there is no surface layer to fail. If you are comparing a £30 printed sweatshirt with a £59 embroidered one, the useful comparison is not the sticker price but how long each one still looks like your pet.
What is digitising, and why does it affect the price?
Digitising is the process of converting a portrait design into instructions an embroidery machine can follow: which direction the thread runs, where one colour stops and the next begins, how the layers sit on top of each other. It is done per design, it cannot be automated well, and it is the single biggest reason a custom embroidered portrait costs more than a printed one.
Every stage of a custom pet portrait, from photo to finished stitching.
This is also why "custom" means something different in embroidery. A printed design can be resized and reused endlessly at no extra cost. An embroidered design is built once, for one specific animal, from one specific photo. A merle coat with three colours blending into each other is a different job from a solid black Labrador, and a longhaired cat is a different job again.
It is worth knowing this before you compare quotes, because a seller offering custom embroidery at £20 is almost certainly not digitising anything bespoke. They are dropping your pet's name or a generic breed silhouette into an existing file.
What makes the price go up or down?
Six factors move the number, and they apply across every format.
What you are actually paying for
- Number of pets. Two animals is more than twice the design work of one, because they also have to be composed together.
- Coat complexity. Merle, brindle, tortoiseshell and longhaired coats take significantly longer than solid colours.
- Size of the finished piece. On artwork, an A4 commission commonly costs around 50 per cent more than an A5. On embroidery, a larger design means more machine time.
- What it goes on. The garment or homeware item has its own base cost before any portrait work happens.
- Revisions. Some sellers include one round. Some charge per change. Some include none at all.
- Speed. Rush fees are common on made to order work, and they are usually the most expensive way to buy.
Species matters less than people expect. Dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, hamsters, birds and reptiles are all stitched using the same process, and a rabbit is not cheaper than a retriever just because it is smaller.
What is usually not included in the price?
The advertised figure and the amount you actually pay are frequently different, and this is where most people get caught out. Before ordering anything custom, check all six of these.
| Cost | Often extra on | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Framing and mounting | Original artwork, prints | Is the price framed or unframed? |
| Shipping | Original artwork | Is tracked, insured delivery included? |
| Revisions | Digital portraits, artwork | How many changes are included before extra charges? |
| Extra pets | Everything | What is the per-pet price, not just the headline price? |
| Deposits | Commissioned artwork | Is the deposit refundable if you do not like the result? |
| Import duties | Anything shipped from overseas | Where is it actually made and shipped from? |
The revisions point deserves the most attention. On a commissioned painting, you are often approving a work in progress that has already had many hours put into it, so changes are genuinely expensive for the artist and are priced accordingly. That is fair, and it is also why the risk sits with you: if the finished piece does not look like your dog, you have already paid.
How much does an embroidered pet portrait cost at Lucy & Lola?
Our embroidered pet portraits start at £64 for a sweatshirt or t-shirt and £74 and £60 for a hoodie or fleece. That is the finished item, not a design file, and it includes a digital proof with unlimited revisions before anything is stitched. Everything is made to order in our Cambridge studio with a lead time of two to three weeks, shown at checkout, and shipped worldwide.
| Item | From |
|---|---|
| Organic sweatshirt | £64 |
| Organic t-shirt | £45 |
| Hoodie | £74 |
| Fleece, quarter zip or full zip | £59 |
| Tote and backpack | £45 |
| Velvet cushion | £45 |
| Iron-on patch | £25 |
Pet embroidery is the only thing we do. We started in 2021 with one machine and a rescue dachshund called Lola, and more than 50,000 orders later that has not changed. You can see the full range in our best sellers, or read more about us.
Is a cheap pet portrait ever worth it?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on what you want it for.
Under about £25, you are almost never buying custom work. At that price the economics do not allow for a person to look at your photo, so what you are usually getting is an automated image conversion, a breed template with your pet's colouring swapped in, or a print-on-demand product produced overseas. For a novelty mug or a card, that can be completely fine and nobody is being cheated.
It becomes a problem when the piece is meant to be a likeness. Automated conversions tend to be confidently wrong in a specific way: they get the breed right and the individual animal wrong. The white flash on the chest ends up in the wrong place, the eyes are generic, the one ear that always sat slightly lower sits level. Owners notice immediately, and it is the single most common complaint about budget portraits.
The markings are the test. Get those wrong and no amount of detail elsewhere fixes it.
The simplest test before you buy anything under £50: ask whether a human reviews the photo before production, and whether you see a proof. If the answer to both is no, you are buying an automated product at a custom price.
Is an embroidered portrait worth it compared with artwork?
Not always, and the honest answer depends on what you want the finished thing to do.
- You want a piece to hang on a wall. Commission an original. That is what artwork is for, and embroidery on a garment will not do the same job.
- You want the cheapest possible option. A digital file at £40 to £60 is the cheapest route, as long as you are happy to organise printing yourself.
- You want something used daily rather than displayed. Embroidery wins here, because it is on a thing that leaves the house.
- You need it inside a week. Made to order does not work to that deadline. A digital file or a gift card is the realistic answer.
- You only have a blurry, dark or distant photo. Fix the photo first. No format, at any price, recovers detail that was never captured.
Photo quality is the one variable buyers control and consistently underestimate. It affects the result more than the price bracket does. We review every customer photo before any design work starts, and if an image will not produce a good portrait we say so before anything is made rather than after.
How do you avoid paying twice?
The expensive mistake is not choosing the wrong price bracket. It is paying once for something that does not look like your pet, then paying again somewhere else.
- Before you order Find the best photo you own. Face filling a decent part of the frame, both eyes sharp, daylight rather than flash, the original file rather than a screenshot.
- Before you pay Confirm what happens if you do not like it. Ask specifically about revisions, deposits and refunds, in that order.
- At the proof stage Compare the proof against the photo on a big screen, not a phone. Check the eyes, the ear set and any markings.
- Say what is wrong, precisely "The muzzle is too dark" gets fixed. "Something looks off" does not.
- After it arrives Follow the care instructions. Embroidered garments last far longer washed inside out at 30 degrees.
See the exact price for your pet, on the item you want, before you commit. Proof first, unlimited revisions, nothing stitched until it is right.
Start your portraitFrequently asked questions
How much does a custom pet portrait cost in the UK?
Between about £40 and £600 depending on format. Digital files run £40 to £120, printed canvases £80 to £200, embroidered portraits on clothing from around £55, and original painted or drawn commissions from £150 upwards, with large oils reaching well into the thousands. Framing and shipping are frequently quoted on top.
Why is embroidery more expensive than a printed pet portrait?
Because print is a seconds-long automated process and embroidery is not. Every embroidered design has to be digitised into a thread pattern first, the thread colours are selected shade by shade to match the coat, and each item is stitched individually. The upside is durability: print cracks and peels over time, while embroidery is worked into the fabric and does not.
What is a reasonable amount to spend on a pet portrait for my mom?
Most people land between £50 and £150, which covers an embroidered garment, a good printed canvas or a small original commission. Spending more mainly buys size and medium rather than a better likeness. If she already has framed photos on the wall, something wearable or usable tends to get more life out of the money.
Does the number of pets change the price?
Yes, in every format. Each additional animal means more design work, more composition decisions and, with embroidery, more production time. Multi-pet designs are available with us, and the price for your exact combination shows before you check out rather than being quoted afterwards.
Are cheap pet portraits on marketplace sites any good?
For novelty items, often fine. For a likeness, usually not. Below roughly £25 there is no room in the price for anyone to look at your photo, so you are typically buying an automated conversion or a breed template. The quick check is whether a human reviews your photo and whether you see a proof before production.
How long does a custom pet portrait take?
Digital portraits are typically a few days. Embroidered pieces from us take two to three weeks depending on capacity, shown at checkout, plus the time you take to approve your proof. Original painted and drawn commissions are the slowest, commonly several weeks to several months, and many artists book up well in advance.
Do you charge extra for revisions?
No. You get a digital proof and unlimited revisions before anything is stitched, so nothing goes near a machine until you have said it is right. That is worth checking wherever you buy, because charging per revision, or including none at all, is common across the wider custom portrait market.
Can I get a portrait of a pet who has passed away?
Yes, and it costs the same as any other portrait. All that is needed is a photo, which does not need to be recent or professional. Older photos taken before smartphone cameras are common and often work perfectly well. Send the clearest one you have and it will be reviewed before any design work starts.
Is it cheaper to buy a digital portrait and print it myself?
Only if you count the file alone. A £60 digital portrait plus quality printing and framing frequently lands at £150 or more, which puts it alongside a small original commission. It does give you flexibility, since one file can be printed at several sizes, so it suits people who want the same design in more than one place.
Do you ship outside the UK, and does that cost more?
Everything is made to order in our Cambridge studio and shipped worldwide. Delivery costs and any local duties depend on the destination and are shown at checkout rather than added later, so check the total there. Allow the standard two to three week lead time plus international transit time.
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