We have no good photo of the deceased. What now?
What is left is a passport photo, a face in a wedding group shot or a frame from a video. We show what can be made from them and what the finished portrait looks like.
Contents
Only left with a poor photo?
You tip the contents of the photo box onto the table and realise there isn’t a single picture you could use at the service. What is left is a small passport photo, a wedding group shot with dad somewhere in the middle, and a video from his last birthday. The funeral director needs the photo for the order of service by Friday.
This is one of the most common situations families bring to us. Below we show what can actually be used, what the result looks like in the three hardest cases — a passport or bus-pass photo, a face cut out of a group shot and a frame taken from a video — and what really cannot be saved. If you already have a picture in mind, start with our guide on how to prepare a photo for a funeral.
Start with what you already have
A funeral photo doesn’t have to come from a studio. Almost anything works, as long as the face is visible:
- a print from the album — even faded, creased or glued to card,
- a passport photo, a driving licence photo, an old photo-booth strip, a bus pass or a works ID badge,
- a group photo: a wedding, a christening, an anniversary, a works outing,
- a frame taken from a phone video or an old camcorder tape,
- a profile picture from social media,
- a photo of a print taken on a phone, when the original stayed with another relative.
One simple test instead of technical figures: zoom in on your phone until the face fills the screen. If you can still make out the shape of the eyes, the nose and the mouth, there is something to work with. If the face falls apart into patches and even you can’t tell who it is, keep looking.
A passport or photo-booth picture
Very often this is the only photograph left of someone who hated being photographed. It is small, taken in hard flat light, with a serious expression, a date or stamp printed in the corner and years of wear from a wallet.
A portrait for the service can be made from exactly that. We remove the creases, scratches and grain of the old print, swap the hard light for a soft one, take out the background and crop it to head and shoulders. We don’t make anyone look younger, we don’t smooth the wrinkles away and we don’t change the features — it has to be the same person, simply seen properly.
The serious expression usually stays. That is how document photographs were taken and nobody asked for a smile. For most families that is an advantage: the portrait is calm and it suits the tone of the service.
A face from a group photo
The second most common case. There are a dozen people in the picture, your father’s face is the size of a thumbnail, somebody’s arm is round his shoulder, and the reception lighting has turned everyone orange.
A portrait can be built from that too: we lift the person out, remove the people standing next to them, take away the room, even out the skin tone and bring back the detail a small crop simply doesn’t show.
Two things make the biggest difference here:
- Send the whole photo, not your own crop. The full file holds far more detail than a piece trimmed on a phone. Just tell us who it is — for example “the second man from the left, in the grey suit”.
- Pick the shot where the face is turned towards the camera. A head turned away cannot be turned back.
A frame from a video
Sometimes there are no photographs at all, but there is film: a granddaughter’s wedding, a golden anniversary, an ordinary Sunday lunch. A paused frame is soft, lit by the ceiling light and usually caught mid-sentence.
It is a harder starting point than a print, but still enough. We remove the video noise and the motion blur, correct the colour, settle a face caught mid-word and move the person onto a plain background.
How to save the frame: pause the recording where the face is clearest and turned forwards, then save the screen. If you are not sure how to do that on your phone, ask someone in the family — one paused frame is enough. If you have several, send two or three and we will choose the best one.
If you would like the portrait to be more subdued than the recording itself, say so in the order notes. In the example above, a colourful shirt from a family party has given way to a plain navy one — our retoucher does that kind of work on the express option.
What really cannot be saved
We would rather say this before you place an order. We cannot build a portrait when:
- the face is hidden behind a hand, a glass, a microphone or another person,
- the photo was taken from a long way off and the face is a few blurred patches,
- the video is so shaky that the eyes are not visible,
- only a profile was ever taken and the family wants a front-facing portrait — we can improve the quality, but we cannot turn the head,
- the eyes are closed in every shot you have.
Not sure? Write to us through the contact form and attach the photo before you order. We will tell you whether a portrait can be made from it and what it will look like.
Where else to look for photographs
Before you decide there is nothing to choose from, check the places nobody thinks of first:
- Other people’s phones. Ask the children, the grandchildren and the brothers and sisters to look through last Christmas and the last birthday.
- Albums in the wider family. The one print nobody else has is often at a sister’s or a cousin’s house.
- Documents. A passport, a driving licence, a bus pass, an old works ID badge.
- Family occasions. Weddings, christenings and anniversaries have their own photographers, and the guests usually have pictures on their phones.
- The church, the club, the workplace. Parish newsletters, club photographs and long-service pictures are sometimes the only portrait in existence.
- Social media. Profile pictures and photos your relative was tagged in by friends.
Gather everything you find and only then choose. Deciding between three candidates is far easier than staring at one.
How it works with us
The service is entirely digital. You upload the photo online and we email you a link to the finished file — no parcel and no waiting for a courier. That is how we work with families across the UK and anywhere else, even when the service is the day after tomorrow.
- Upload the photo on the service page, from a computer or a phone. You can send several pictures to choose from.
- Choose the turnaround, the print size and the background. Give the size you want to print; we crop the picture to it.
- We improve the photo and email you a link to the file.
- You print the portrait at a photo shop near you and put it in a frame.
- Delivery within 72 hours — €21,00. We remove paper texture, grain and yellowing, bring back facial detail and crop the photo to the size you give.
- Express delivery within 24 hours — €39,00. Everything from the standard option, and our retoucher also corrects highlights and shadows and retouches the figure. Orders placed before 12:00 Polish time are delivered within 24 hours; anything later moves to the next working day.
The same file works for the order of service, for the screen at the crematorium and later for a memorial plaque with a photograph. Where to print it and what to ask for is covered in a separate guide: where to print a photo for a funeral. And if you want to know more about the restoration itself, read how to improve the quality of a photo for a funeral.
Original on the left, restored file on the right
Photo restoration
for headstones and funeral ceremonies
The service is for funeral homes, stonemasons and private individuals who need a photograph improved quickly — in time to have it printed by a local photographer for the ceremony, or prepared for use on a headstone.
We also restore photographs in very poor condition — we remove paper texture, grain and yellowing, bring back sharpness in the face and hair, and crop the frame to the format you choose. We hand over the print-ready file as a link you download to your computer.
For funeral directors and memorial masons
The family arrives with a phone and a single picture: a passport photo, a wedding group shot or a frame from a video. Instead of sending them away or promising something you cannot be sure of, order the restoration in our shop, on the service page.
- order as a business, giving the name of the firm and your VAT number,
- download the finished file from the link we email — no parcel and no courier to wait for,
- print and frame it in house or at your usual photo shop, in whatever size you need,
- use the same file later for a memorial plaque with a photograph,
- on the express option you will be ready even when the funeral is the day after tomorrow.
If conversations like that happen every week, take a look at our cooperation for funeral businesses. Ready-made framed portraits, with a black ribbon, are in the memorial pictures category.
Frequently asked questions
All we have is a passport photo from forty years ago. Is that enough?
Yes. The small format, the creases and the stamp in the corner are not a problem. What matters is that the face is visible and turned forwards.
Can a portrait be made from a group photo?
Yes, it is one of the most common cases. Send the whole photo rather than a crop, and tell us which person it is.
Can we use a frame from a video?
Yes. Pause the film where the face is clearest and save the screen. If you have several such frames, send them all.
We don’t know whether our photo is good enough. How can we check?
Write to us through the contact form and attach the picture. We will answer before you place an order.
How long does it take and what does it cost?
Delivery within 72 hours costs €21,00 and express delivery within 24 hours costs €39,00. Express orders placed before 12:00 Polish time are delivered within 24 hours.
Can a funeral director order the restoration for a family?
Yes. You can order as a business with a VAT number, and we email the link to the firm’s address.
We live outside Poland. Does that work?
Yes. The whole order is placed online and you print the file at a photo shop wherever you are.
In short
No good photograph does not mean no portrait at the service:
- Gather everything you have — prints, documents, group photos, videos.
- Zoom in on the face and check that the eyes, nose and mouth are there.
- Send whole photographs rather than your own crops, and say which person it is.
- Choose the turnaround: 72 hours, or express within 24 hours.
- Collect the file by email and print the portrait at a photo shop near you.