Custom Pillows Made From Your Photos

Custom pillows are one of those products where the difference between good and bad is entirely in the details nobody mentions before you order.

Whether the photo survives being enlarged. Whether the crop clips somebody's head. Whether the fabric makes skin look natural or glossy. Whether the print washes or cracks.

We deal with that by showing you the finished design before you pay anything. Upload an image, see a free preview at the size and shape you chose, and order only when it looks right.

These are custom made pillows in the literal sense: each one is printed on demand after you approve it, so there is no minimum order, no setup fee and nothing waiting in a warehouse. Prices start at $25 and production takes about three days.

Below is every customized pillow we make, from custom printed pillows for a sofa to full length body pillows, what each one is for, and where to read the detail.

The right custom pillow depends on what you are printing. A pet or a face suits a pillow cut to its outline, a full length photo suits a body pillow, and original artwork suits a dakimakura. Here is each type in a sentence, with a link to its own page.

By shape

Body pillows are full length, huggable rather than decorative, and the format people choose when they want to hold something. See custom body pillows. If you already own an insert and only need the printed cover, go to custom body pillow cases instead.

Shaped pillows are cut to follow any outline you upload rather than being square, which turns a cushion into the thing itself. See custom shaped pillows.

By subject

Photo pillows take the picture you already love and print it on a cushion. See custom photo pillows.

Face pillows crop tight to somebody's face, often cut around the head. Equal parts sincere gift and excellent joke. See custom face pillows.

Pet pillows work for any animal, with species specific guidance for dogs and cats, or start at custom pet pillows if yours is a rabbit, horse, bird or anything else.

For artists

If you are printing original artwork rather than a photograph, the file requirements are different and worth reading properly. See custom dakimakura printing, which covers resolution, bleed and colour, and has no minimum order.

Still not sure

Upload your photo and try the preview. It costs nothing and you can switch sizes to see which one suits the image before deciding anything.

The process is identical whatever shape you choose, which is why the advice on every page here overlaps.

Printing

Dye based inks are pushed into the fabric fibers rather than laid on top as a coating. That is the reason a printed pillow can be washed without the image cracking, and why it still feels like fabric rather than plastic.

Every format prints double sided at no extra cost. Same image both sides, two different images, or a plain colour on the back.

Cutting and sewing

Square formats are straightforward. Shaped formats are traced, cut with a seam allowance and sewn individually, which is why anything thinner than about two centimeters has to be thickened before it can survive being stitched.

Filling

Polyester fiber fill, hand packed into narrow areas so ears, tails and letter strokes do not stay flat. Covers sold without an insert are the exception, and those are listed clearly as covers.

Timing

About three days in production, then four to eight business days of tracked shipping. For a fixed date, order at least two weeks ahead and earlier in December.

Sizes

Every pillow comes in the same five sizes:

• 3 inch charm, $25
• 16 inch mini, $53
• 22 inch medium, $67, the usual cushion size
• 30 inch large, $82
• 60 inch XL, $120, close to full body length

Photo requirements

At least 1500 pixels on the short side for anything cushion sized, and considerably more for the XL and for artwork. The preview warns you before you pay if a file is too small, which is the whole point of having one.

Washing

Cold gentle cycle, mild detergent, air dry. Never iron the print and skip the hot dryer. Heat is the only thing that reliably damages a dye based print. Covers can be removed and washed separately; filled cushions go in a laundry bag.

Almost every preview that comes back disappointing was a photograph problem, not a printing problem, and the fix usually takes half a minute in the phone gallery.

• Light on the face, not behind it. A lamp or a window behind the subject prints as a silhouette.
• A clear edge. A dark coat against a dark wall gives the cutter nothing to follow, so a die cut shape comes back rough.
• The whole subject in frame with a little room around it. Cropped at the shoulder stays cropped at the shoulder.
• The original file. A photo forwarded through a messaging app has already lost detail that cannot be put back.

None of this needs a good camera. Phone photographs from the last five years print well at every size we make. What matters is light and separation from the background, not megapixels, and the preview tells you which one you have before you have spent anything.

A custom pillow is rarely bought for a room. It is bought for a person, and the pattern is consistent enough to be worth spelling out.

• Someone who has moved away, where the point is that the person is not in the room.
• A pet owner, where the animal is the subject and the owner is only the recipient. This is the largest single group.
• A grandparent, who already owns everything and cannot be bought for any other way.
• A friend, where the whole point is that it is slightly too much and gets opened in front of other people.
• After a loss, human or animal, where a photograph is the only thing left to give.

The format follows from that. A joke present wants a die cut face. A memorial wants a square cushion and a calm photograph. A long distance present wants length, because scale is exactly what is missing.

Each format has its own page with the photography advice, the sizes and the things that go wrong.

• Custom photo pillows, printed from the picture you already love
• Custom face pillows, cut around the hairline rather than left square
• Custom pet pillows, and separately dogs and cats
• Custom shaped pillows, any outline, including a child's drawing
• Custom body pillows, and covers only if you already own an insert
• Dakimakura, and printing your own artwork onto one
• Buying for an occasion? Start at birthday, Christmas or Valentines