One photograph, many uses: the service, the notice, the memorial and a keepsake
The service, the order of service, the memorial, a keepsake for the family. How one properly prepared file serves for years — and what it costs.
Contents
Prepare the file once
In the first days after a death the photograph is needed almost at once: for the order of service, for the notice in the paper, for the screen at the crematorium. Then it comes back — when the memorial is ordered, at the first anniversary, when a brother or a daughter asks for a print of their own. And every time somebody starts hunting through a phone again for that one good frame.
It does not have to work that way. One photograph, prepared properly once, covers every one of those moments and keeps working for years. Below we show exactly where it will be needed, what “properly prepared” means, and what it costs to do it once rather than four times in pieces.
Four places the same photograph will appear
These four needs do not arrive together — they spread over months, sometimes years:
A framed portrait on an easel beside the coffin, and the same picture on the front of the order of service. Often shown on the screen in the crematorium chapel as well.
The death notice in the local paper or on a funeral director’s website, and any announcement the family posts online. All of them want the same file.
Smaller framed prints for children, brothers and sisters, grandchildren. Several copies from the same file, in different sizes.
A photograph on porcelain, on crystal or a large glass panel. A memorial is usually made long after the funeral — by then the picture is ready and waiting.
Why it pays to prepare the file once, and properly
The usual sequence runs like this: a picture chosen in a hurry goes to the service, somebody sends a phone snap for the notice, and six months later the memorial mason asks for a photograph and the whole family starts looking all over again. The result is often a memorial carrying a different picture from the one everyone remembers from the funeral.
Preparing the file once settles three things at the same time:
- Consistency. The same face at the service, in the notice, on the memorial and on the shelf at home.
- Peace of mind. Each time something else comes up you send a finished file instead of starting a search.
- Quality. We restore the photograph once, for the largest size it could ever be used at. The same file always works smaller; it never works the other way round.
That last point matters most. A picture prepared for a notice the size of a postage stamp will not carry a 40×50 cm portrait later, nor a large panel on a memorial. A picture prepared for the large format works everywhere.
For the service
The portrait for the service is usually 20×30 or 30×40 cm in a plain black frame, with a black ribbon across one corner. It stands beside the coffin or the urn, and after the funeral it comes home.
- Sizes: 13×18, 20×30, 30×40 and 40×50 cm.
- Frame: slim or wide, black; the ribbon lifts off after the service.
- Digital version: you receive a print-ready file and have it printed at a photo shop near you — the quickest route if the funeral is close.
- Framed portrait: designed, printed and framed by us and sent out ready to stand.
The range is in memorial pictures. How to choose the frame itself is covered in how to prepare a photo for a funeral, and where to print the file in where to print a photo for a funeral.
For the order of service and the notice
The order of service is usually printed by the funeral director within a day or two of the arrangements. The notice in the local paper, and anything the family posts online, is a separate errand — often handled by a relative.
All of them need the same thing: a file that can be emailed and that still looks right small and in black and white. Three practical points:
- Send the file, not a photograph of a photograph. A picture of a screen or of a print loses its edge, and in print that shows.
- Don’t send it through a messaging app. Apps shrink photographs as they send them; the funeral director should get the file from an email.
- Say that it is the same portrait as at the service. That way the booklet and the picture by the coffin show the same face.
If the crop for the booklet needs to be different — tighter, head and shoulders only — tell us when you order. We will prepare a second crop from the same file at no extra charge for another restoration.
For the memorial
A memorial is usually made several months after the funeral, sometimes a year later. This is the longest horizon for the photograph: a portrait on a memorial stays for decades, so it is worth it being the same picture the family remembers from the service.
- Porcelain — the classic oval or rectangle, from 4×6 to 18×24 cm.
- Crystal — thick glass with polished edges, from 8×10 to 18×24 cm.
- A large tempered-glass panel — from 20×30 up to 60×90 cm.
The differences between the materials are in porcelain, crystal or tempered glass, and the large format has its own guide: large photo for a headstone. The range is in photos for headstones.
We prepare the portrait design within two to three days of receiving the file, and the whole order usually takes three to six weeks. With a finished file you start at the design rather than at the search.
Keepsakes for the family
This use arrives last and usually outlives all the others. After the funeral it turns out that a sister would like the portrait, and so would the children and the grandchildren — each of them at home, in a size that suits a shelf or a sideboard.
From one prepared file you can order as many copies as you need, in four sizes: 13×18, 20×30, 30×40 and 40×50 cm. The smaller ones sit well on a sideboard, the larger ones in a living room.
- Several at once. Give the number of copies and the sizes on the order — there is no need to place separate orders.
- Framed or not. The digital version is the file itself, ready to print; a framed portrait arrives ready to stand.
- Without the ribbon. For the house, families usually order the version without the black ribbon — by then it is a keepsake rather than part of a ceremony.
Sizes and designs are in memorial pictures.
What “a properly prepared file” means
Restoration is more than sharpening. We prepare the photograph so that it serves all four uses at once:
- The crop. Head and shoulders, or waist up, with enough room to trim to other proportions.
- The background. Calm and even — eleven tones to choose from, or the background left as it is.
- Light and colour. We take out the yellowing, the grain and the paper texture, and even out highlights and shadows.
- The size. We prepare the file for the format you give on the order — if a large panel on a memorial is a possibility, say so at the start.
We email you a link to the finished file. Save it somewhere safe straight away — our own copy is deleted seven days after delivery, and this file is meant to serve you for years, not for a week. The simplest thing: keep it on a computer and in the cloud, and send the link to somebody else in the family too.
What it costs and how long it takes
The restoration is a one-off and does not depend on how many times you use the file afterwards:
- 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 whole service is digital: you upload the photograph online and receive a link by email, with no parcel and no courier to wait for. Orders go through the photo restoration page. There is more about the service itself in how to improve the quality of a photo.
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
From your side, one properly prepared file means fewer phone calls and fewer reprints. A family that comes back six months later for the memorial already has the photograph, instead of starting another round of searching through phones.
- order the restoration as a business with a VAT number and download the file from the link we email,
- the same file carries the order of service, the portrait for the chapel and, later, the photograph on the memorial,
- when ordering the restoration, give the largest format that might be needed,
- framed portraits and memorial plaques can be ordered on the firm’s details.
The terms of a standing arrangement are on our cooperation page.
Frequently asked questions
Is one file really enough for everything?
Yes, as long as it was prepared for the largest size that might come up. A file made for a large memorial panel will also give you the order of service and the portrait for the chapel.
Do we have to know what the memorial will be?
No. It is enough to say, when ordering the restoration, that the photograph may end up on a memorial — we will prepare the file with room to spare.
What does the restoration cost?
€21,00 within 72 hours and €39,00 for express delivery within 24 hours. It is a one-off cost.
Can we order several copies of the portrait for the family?
Yes. Give the sizes and the number of copies on the order; they all come from the same file.
What if we lose the file?
Our copy is deleted seven days after delivery, so save it on a computer and in the cloud straight away. If it is gone, the restoration has to be done again.
Can the crop for the booklet differ from the one at the service?
It can. Mention it on the order and we will prepare a second crop from the same file.
We only have a poor photograph. Does that change things?
It does not change the order of events — we simply start with the restoration. If you are unsure whether your picture will do, write to us and attach the file.
In short
- Choose one photograph where the face is clear and turned towards the camera.
- Order the restoration and give the largest format that might be needed.
- Save the file you receive on a computer and in the cloud — our copy goes after seven days.
- Use it for the portrait at the service, the order of service and the notice.
- Later, order the memorial photograph and the family’s keepsakes from the same file.
Recommended products
Everything below is made from the same file, prepared once:
Porcelain photos
Crystal photos
Large memorial photos
Memorial pictures