Year by Year
Four moments of the same companion in one frame, youngest on the left, today on the right.
- Poster Print
- From $39.99
- Premium Canvas
- From $69.99
- Framed Poster
- From $79.99
- Luxury Framed
- From $99.99
- Heirloom Gallery Canvas
- From $249.99
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About This Style
Year by Year is the portrait a pet parent already tried to make themselves. Almost everyone has the photos: the first week home, the gangly middle, the day they finally grew into their ears, and one from last month. They live in four different years of a camera roll and they have never once been seen side by side.
This style puts them in a single frame, in order, at matching scale. The panels are painted to one consistent light and palette so the eye reads it as one piece rather than a collage, which is the difference between a keepsake and a screenshot. Nothing is costumed and nothing is invented. The whole effect comes from the distance between the first panel and the last.
The four photos do not need to match each other. They can come from different phones, different rooms and different seasons, because every panel is repainted to the same finish anyway; a dim kitchen snap from the first week sits beside a bright garden shot from last month without either one looking out of place. The only thing that has to hold is the face. Each photo needs to be clear enough that the animal is recognisably the same individual, because the whole piece rests on a stranger being able to see one companion four times rather than four companions once.
It works because growth is invisible while it is happening. You do not notice a dog getting bigger; you notice it the moment you see eight weeks and two years touching. That recognition is what people stop on, and it is why this one tends to be bought for the person who raised the animal rather than by them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many photos do I send?
Four. The piece is composed for exactly four panels, so send four and put them in order from oldest to most recent. Two reads as a before-and-after rather than a growing-up, and past four the puppy panel gets too small to carry the contrast that makes the portrait work.
What if my photos are all different quality?
That is normal and it does not hurt the result. Old phone photos, different lighting, different backgrounds: every panel is repainted to one consistent light and palette, so the sources stop mattering once the piece is made. What we cannot fix is a face that is too blurred or too far away to identify, so pick the clearest shot from each age even if it is not the prettiest.
Can I order this for a pet who has passed?
Yes, and it is one of the more common reasons people choose it. If you would rather have something composed for loss specifically, look at the memorial styles instead. This one is composed as a celebration of a whole life rather than a goodbye, and which of those you want is entirely your call.
Does it work for cats?
Yes. Cats change less dramatically than dogs between one year and five, so the strongest cat versions lean on a kitten photo for the first panel where the size difference does the work. If your earliest photo is already an adult cat, the piece still reads, but it reads as four moods rather than four ages.