Photographing Pets for Perfect Outline Conversions

The three ways pet photos fail

Almost every disappointing pet outline traces back to one of three causes. Recognise them and you can fix them on the spot instead of cycling through slider settings afterwards.

• Black-dog-black-couch — A dark pet on a dark background has nothing for the edge detector to latch onto. Move the pet onto a light rug, a wood floor, or outside onto grass.
• Fur noise — Extreme close-ups of fluffy pets create so many edges that the outline looks like static. Step back so the pet fills about 70% of the frame, not 100%.
• Motion blur — Indoor photos of moving pets are almost always blurry. Open a window, use daylight, or gently ask them to sit — a posed cat beats an action shot every time for coloring.

The ideal pet portrait setup

If you have thirty seconds before the cat walks off, here is what to aim for: daylight from a window on your left or right (not behind you), the pet sitting on a solid-colored surface, and the camera at the pet's eye level.

Eye-level is underrated. Shooting from adult standing height makes pets look squashed and produces weirdly shaped outlines. Kneel down, or even lie on the floor. The coloring page will feel like a "portrait" instead of a casual snap.

Small animals and exotics

Rabbits, guinea pigs, and birds often get skipped because they move constantly. Trick: photograph them during their calm periods — rabbits right after a meal, guinea pigs in their favorite hideout with the entrance open, birds on a perch near a window.

For reptiles and fish, the outline converter does best with side-profile shots. The silhouette is instantly recognisable to a child even if the scales and textures flatten out.