Personalized hardcover

Welcome Home, Your Pet

Your pet, painted from one photo into every page.

Their first day home: everything wrong, and one thing right.

$64.99Free U.S. shipping

Printed to order. Usually at your door in about two weeks; your exact date shows before you pay.

The likeness guarantee. If the book that arrives still is not them, we repaint it or refund you.

Paint their cover — free

About a minute · no card, no account

See their painted cover free — no payment yet, pay only if it’s them
Photo reviewed the same or next business day — before printing
Replaced if it arrives damaged

Sample cover of Welcome Home, Lucy, starring a dog

Show me this book as a…

DogCatAnother pet

Lucy is standing in. Your own pet is painted into it, with their name on the front.

A look inside

Example artwork — your book stars your own pet. Swipe or use the arrow keys for all 3.

A painted page from the story: a small new pet sitting squarely inside its water bowl on a kitchen mat, water sloshing over the rim, while a large grey cat watches from a kitchen chair behind.

A painted page from the story: the small pet at full stretch, racing along a hall runner toward a little wooden door under the stairs.

The last page of the story: the small pet curled asleep in the seat of a green velvet armchair, tucked against a large grey cat whose tail lies over them both, under a lamp turned low.

Look closer

Will it actually look like your pet?

It is the only question that matters, so here is our answer at full size: one customer’s photo, and the cover painted from it.

Oliver, a Boston terrier with a white blaze down his face and a blue collar, lying on a rug and looking up at the camera — the photo his owner sent. — Oliver’s cover, painted from the photo his owner sent. “It captures his little snaggle tooth perfectly — it looks exactly like him.” — Amanda G., Escalon, CA

The Great Adventure of Oliver: the same Boston terrier painted running down a coastal path — the same white blaze, the same blue collar, tongue out. — Oliver’s cover, painted from the photo his owner sent. “It captures his little snaggle tooth perfectly — it looks exactly like him.” — Amanda G., Escalon, CA

The hard ones: a black coat and a calico face

Two sample photos we painted through the same step you are about to use. Each cover came back in about a minute, from the one photo beside it.

Photo
Cover
Otisblack lab · grey muzzle · one white patch
Photo
Cover
Junipercalico · split face · green eyes

How we check

Before anything prints, a person opens your photo next to every page and checks the things that make your pet theirs: the shape of the face, the set of the ears, each marking, the collar, the way they hold themselves. A page that drifts is painted again, not shipped. And if the book that arrives still is not them, we repaint it or refund you.

About this book

The first day home, told as comedy. Your pet gets every single thing charmingly wrong, and the old grey cat who was here first reserves judgement from the top of the fridge. Then the two of them need each other, and the one who has been falling into things all day turns out to have been practising. Forty pages, and by the last one the argument about the good chair is over.

Your pet stars in every scene — not just on the cover. Painted from one photo, with the markings that make them recognizably yours.

Art style: Painted Storybook
Format: 8.5-inch square hardcover
Length: 40 pagesOur long format — your pet painted into every one of them.
Suitable for: Ages 2–6 · and any grown-up who reads it to the dog

New petJust because

OMG, it’s so cute! It captures Oliver’s little snaggle tooth perfectly — it looks exactly like him.
Amanda G., Escalon, CA · Oliver’s book

I started Illustrated You because I could not find a book that actually looked like my dog. So every book here is painted from your own photo, and a person on our team looks at the finished pages against that photo before anything goes to the printer.

Mark, founder

Before you pay a thing

See your pet on this cover first

Upload one photo and we paint their cover — free, in under a minute, with no card and no account. If it is not them, you have lost a photo and a minute.

Paint their cover — free How it works

One photo, and their nameWe tell you right away whether the photo will work.
Their cover, paintedTheir markings, their name on the front. Not a mock-up — the same painting the printed book is made from.
Then you decidePayment is the last step, after you have seen it.

What happens in it

The story

The house has been getting ready for days: two bowls by the stove, a basket beside them, and one long argument about the good chair. Then in comes your pet — small, new, and sure this is going to be wonderful. Breakfast goes well. The water bowl does not. The stairs go up beautifully and down in a heap. There is somebody in the long mirror, and something flat and humming under the hall table that is best dealt with by climbing on top. Through all of it, Pearl — grey, large, and here longer than the sofa — watches from somewhere high and says only, “We’ll see.” Until Pearl slips into the little cupboard under the stairs for some peace, the humming thing bumps the door shut, and the one with brand-new ears is the only one who hears her. A whole day of falling into things turns out to have been practice. Your pet backs up, and falls into the door. Pearl comes out, washes one small ear, and spends the evening teaching the newcomer how everything is done: the bowl, the stairs, the mirror, the humming thing. At bedtime she walks past the basket the house had decided on, says “Not there,” and moves over in the good chair. The basket by the stove stays empty.

Who it's for. For ages 2–6 and the week a puppy, kitten, or small pet arrives — a first-day-home comedy for a child who is already telling everyone what the new one did wrong today. Your pet is drawn small and new, smaller than Pearl the house cat, on every page, so it suits a young or small animal rather than a full-grown big dog.

The dedication

The first page is yours

Typeset exactly as you write it. Up to 2 names, a date, and about 200 characters — drawn as it prints, while you type it.

Drawn as it prints.

Before you ask

Good questions

Is the bit where Pearl gets shut in the cupboard scary?

No. Pearl is cross, not frightened — she insists she is “choosing to be in here” — the cupboard is dim rather than dark, and the door is open again a few pages later. The tension is the size of a small animal deciding to run at a door, and it ends in a cat washing one ear.

We already have an older cat or dog at home. Is Pearl painted from them?

No. Pearl is a character in the story — a large, long-haired grey cat drawn the same in every copy — and only the new arrival is painted from your photo.

Our new pet is a rabbit, or a grown-up rescue. Does the first day still work?

A rabbit, yes. Every scene is written for whatever body your pet has — a rabbit sits in the water bowl, scrambles the stairs, and rides the humming thing just as well as a puppy does. The one thing to know: your pet is drawn small and new, smaller than Pearl the house cat, on every page. It is a first-day book, best for a puppy, kitten, or small pet; a full-grown Labrador would come out smaller than a cat, and there are better titles for them. The story also needs an animal that lives loose in a house and can get itself up a flight of stairs; a horse, a fish, or a tank animal cannot star in it.

Will the illustrated character look like my pet?

You will see before you pay. Upload one photo and we paint their cover, free, in about a minute — if it is not them, paint it again or try another photo, and you have spent nothing. In the book we keep the details that make them theirs: face shape, ears, coloring and markings, carried through every page. A sharp, well-lit photo of their face gives the best likeness, and a person on our team compares the finished pages to it before printing. If the pet inside the book is not the pet on the cover you approved, we repaint it or refund you.

What makes a good photo?

One pet, facing the camera, in good light — daylight near a window is ideal. We work from what we can actually see, so a photo where the face, coloring, and markings are sharp gives the best likeness. Avoid heavy shadow, a busy background, a costume, or a photo with two pets in it. A phone picture is completely fine; it just needs to be in focus and not cropped so tightly that the head is cut off.

Is the artwork made with AI?

Yes. We generate the illustrations with AI from the photo you upload — it is not painted by hand on paper. Every book is checked by our team before it goes to print, and we never use your photos to train AI models.

What happens to the photo I upload?

It is used to make and check your book, and then we keep it — your photo, what you typed, and the files painted from them — so we can reprint your book if something goes wrong and make your next one without asking for the same photo twice. Ask us to delete it whenever you like: email support@illustratedyou.com, or ask us to close your account. No public gallery, no advertising without asking you first, never used to train AI models.

What does $64.99 include?

A 40-page, 8.5-inch square hardcover printed to order for one animal, painted from your photo on every page, with their name on the cover and a dedication page in your words. A person checks it before it prints, shipping in the U.S. is free, and if it arrives damaged we replace it free.

The same pet, another story