Every family portrait tells a story before anyone reads the label: who stands closest to whom, who holds the baby, who looks straight out at you. For four centuries, painters have used those choices to say something about a family, and the same choices will shape yours.
These custom family portrait ideas come in two halves. First, four ideas for who to gather and why, each drawn from a real tradition in the history of portraiture. Then the practical part: how to take the family photo that becomes the portrait, and what to know before you start.
Custom family portrait ideas start with a story
The best family portraits begin with a reason. A new baby. A milestone birthday. Grandparents who have just celebrated fifty years together. A first home, a move abroad, a Christmas when everyone finally made it back. The reason tells you who belongs in the frame, and often which style to choose.
Three questions help:
- Who sits? A Family portrait gathers three or four people. Couple is designed for two partners; for one person and a pet, choose Person + Pet. For two people who are not a couple, such as a parent and a child, create a Person portrait of each in the same style.
- Who is it for? A portrait for your own wall can be playful; a gift for grandparents often leans toward the formal.
- Where will it hang? A grand canvas above a fireplace and a print on a bookshelf call for different sizes, and sometimes different styles.
Idea 1: grandparents and grandchildren, together
Few portraits carry as much feeling as one that brings together the oldest and the youngest members of a family. Because a portrait holds up to four sitters, choose your line-up with care: Grandma and Grandpa with two grandchildren; a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter; or a grandfather flanked by the three cousins who adore him.
When the grandchildren live in different homes, you don't need to wait for the next reunion. Collect one good photo of each person, ask each child's parents for their agreement, and let the portrait bring everyone together.
It also makes a wonderful present. If you are planning it as a gift, our guide to gifts for parents and grandparents covers the occasions, the timing and how to keep the surprise.
Idea 2: siblings, the way the old masters painted royal children
For a long time, royal children were painted as miniature adults: stiff, solemn and weighed down by their rank. In The Five Eldest Children of Charles I, signed and dated 1637 and still in the Royal Collection, Anthony van Dyck broke with that habit. The future Charles II and his four younger siblings are unmistakably royal, yet also unmistakably children, posed with two dogs, one enormous and one tiny. The Royal Collection notes how the painting honors both the youth and the status of its sitters.
A century later, William Hogarth brought the idea home. The Graham Children (1742, National Gallery, London) shows four siblings at play in their London house: one boy turns the handle of a bird organ, a sister dances, the eldest holds out cherries to the baby in his little carriage, and a cat climbs up beside a caged goldfinch.
Both pictures suggest the same lesson for a sibling portrait today: let them be children. For three or four brothers and sisters, Royal Court brings the ceremony of a court portrait; Golden Age wraps them in deep shadow and warm, luminous light. If you are curious about where these conventions come from, read our short history of baroque portraiture.
Idea 3: the new family
The first portrait of a young family has a long pedigree. Soon after becoming court painter to Charles I in 1632, Van Dyck painted the king and Queen Henrietta Maria with their two eldest children: the little Prince Charles standing before his father, and Princess Mary in her mother's arms. At the time it was known as The Greate Peece. For all the gleaming silks and the great column behind them, the king and queen are seated, the crown has been set to one side and two small dogs play between them. The Royal Collection calls it, in essence, a royal conversation piece: the informal family group portrait we come back to below.
For a couple with a newborn, or parents with a toddler and a baby, that balance of grandeur and tenderness is the one to aim for. Palace Portrait brings the columns and the drapery; the tenderness comes from the photo you choose. With very young children, pick the sharpest, best-lit image you have: small faces leave little room for error, and some features may be interpreted.
Idea 4: the family at home, or on the estate
In eighteenth-century Britain, families fell for the conversation piece: an informal group portrait, usually small in scale, showing a family or friends at home or in the garden. Hogarth helped make it popular; Arthur Devis and Johan Zoffany carried it further.
Its most famous open-air cousin is Thomas Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews (about 1750, National Gallery, London): a young couple, married in 1748, beneath an oak on their land near Sudbury, with fields rolling away behind them. It has been described as a triple portrait, of Robert Andrews, his wife and his land.
Our Aristocratic Estate style follows that tradition, with an open landscape and a country house in the distance, and suits families who love the outdoors. For a family that feels most itself at home, Palace Portrait moves the scene indoors, among marble and gilded interiors.
One reassuring detail: the setting comes from the style, not from your photo. You don't need to pose the family in a garden to receive an estate portrait, or in a grand room to receive a palace; a well-lit photo taken in your own living room is enough.
How to take a family photo that makes a fine portrait
Here is the good news: you don't need a photographer, matching outfits or a perfect day. Clothes and setting are reimagined in the portrait. What carries over is what the camera sees in the faces: expression, likeness and light. So the photo should serve the faces.
- Soft light from the side. Gather everyone near a large window, or outdoors in open shade. Avoid harsh midday sun and on-camera flash.
- Faces fully visible. No sunglasses, no caps casting shadows, no one half hidden behind a shoulder.
- Get close. Frame from the chest up rather than head to toe, so each face fills more of the picture.
- Camera at eye level. Kneel for small children rather than shooting down at them.
- Keep it sharp. Use a timer and a steady surface, take a burst of shots and keep the one where everyone's eyes are open.
- Send the original. Use the file from your phone's photo library, not a screenshot or a copy forwarded through a messaging app, and skip heavy filters.
Holidays are often the only time everyone is in the same room, so plan the photo rather than hoping for it. At Christmas, take it early in the day, near a window, before the light fades and the wrapping paper takes over; it only needs a couple of minutes.
After you upload, our photo check looks for common problems, such as a blurry or dark image, faces that are too small, or fewer faces than the sitters you chose, and suggests another photo if needed. For more detail, read our guide on how to choose a photo for a custom portrait.
One group photo or one photo each?
You can upload one group photo or up to four separate photos, one per person. Each approach has its strengths.
- One group photo captures real closeness: the way a child leans into a grandparent, the shared light of the same afternoon. Choose it when you have a sharp, well-lit picture of everyone together.
- Separate photos solve the family that is never in one place. They also let you pick each person's best picture. Try to choose photos with similar light and a similar angle, each showing the face clearly, from the shoulders up.
Either way, you see the result before you pay. When you are ready, start your family portrait: your first preview is free, and you can try again up to three times.
Choosing the style for your family
- Palace Portrait: marble columns, heavy drapery and gilded interiors, the grandest setting for a whole family.
- Royal Court: velvet, ermine and gold, for the family that enjoys a sense of occasion.
- Golden Age: deep shadow and luminous light; intimate, warm and timeless.
- Aristocratic Estate: the open landscape of the English country portrait.
Size matters too. With three or four faces in one frame, a larger format gives each of them room: Statement (18 × 24 in, about 45 × 60 cm) or Grand (24 × 36 in, about 60 × 90 cm), as a fine art print or a gallery canvas. For a smaller wall, consider Classic (12 × 16 in, about 30 × 40 cm).
Up to four sitters: what to know
- Three or four people. A Family portrait currently includes up to four sitters.
- People only. Pets are not part of the Family portrait. Your dog or cat can have a royal portrait of its own, or sit beside one person in a Person + Pet portrait.
- Everyone's permission. Before uploading, we ask you to confirm that you have permission to use the photo of everyone shown. For children, that means their parents' agreement.
- Your photos stay private. They are used only to create your portrait and deleted after 30 days unless you order. Your portrait appears in our gallery only if you choose to allow it.
Formats, sizes and everything else are gathered on our page about the custom family portrait.
Ready to gather everyone in one frame? Create your family portrait and see it before you pay.