Pictures for memorials serve multiple purposes: they anchor the memorial service visually, they give guests a focal point for remembrance, and they become lasting keepsakes that families display in their homes for years afterward. Funeral Portraits creates custom memorial pictures from any photo of your loved one — professionally enhanced by our award-winning artists, printed on archival canvas, and shipped with urgency.
The best pictures for memorials share a few key qualities. They are large enough to be seen clearly from across the service space. They represent the person's likeness authentically — a genuine expression, good lighting, an image that family and friends immediately recognize as "them." And they are professionally presented — enhanced, composed, and printed in a way that communicates respect and care.
A standard drugstore enlargement meets none of these criteria by default. It reproduces the source photo at a larger size, magnifying any imperfections in the original image, and delivers it on reflective paper in a basic frame. A custom canvas portrait from Funeral Portraits is the opposite — the source photo is the starting point, and our artists take it from there.
We work with every type of source photo: clear recent snapshots, older photographs that have faded or been damaged, images cropped from group photos, and low-resolution digital files. Our artists evaluate each source image and apply the appropriate enhancement techniques to produce the best possible result. If the source image has limitations that cannot be fully overcome, we tell you before printing — not after.
Memorial services use pictures in different ways depending on the service type, venue, and family preferences. For a traditional funeral service, one large canvas portrait at the entrance or front of the room is the standard approach. For a celebration-of-life event or reception-style memorial, multiple pictures of different sizes arranged on a memory table create a richer tribute display.
When selecting which photos to use for a memorial, consider gathering input from multiple family members. Siblings, children, and close friends often have photos that others have not seen — a candid moment from a fishing trip, a photo from decades ago when the person was young, or an image from a meaningful event. A variety of ages and settings across multiple smaller prints can create a more complete picture of the person's life than a single large portrait.
For the primary display portrait — the main picture at the front of the memorial — choose the most recent clear photo available. This is the image guests will associate with the person at this service, and it should feel like the person they knew. For secondary tribute prints, earlier photos showing the person at different life stages are often moving and meaningful.
Background themes are one of the most distinctive elements of a professional memorial picture. Our library contains more than 150 exclusive themes that transform a simple portrait into a composed memorial image. Every theme is designed to complement portrait photography and create a dignified, beautiful overall presentation.
Categories include soft florals and nature scenes — roses, wildflowers, lavender fields, autumn forests, mountain landscapes, ocean sunsets — that suit a wide range of personalities and service tones. Religious and spiritual themes span multiple traditions, including Christian crosses, stained glass patterns, and non-denominational spiritual imagery. Patriotic and military backgrounds honor service members and veterans. Sports and hobby themes celebrate the activities that were central to your loved one's life — fishing, golf, gardening, woodworking, music, and many others.
Every background is shown as a thumbnail preview on our order page, and you can preview multiple backgrounds before committing. If you are not sure which theme fits best, our customer service team can help you think through the options based on what you tell us about the person being honored.
We offer memorial pictures as canvas gallery wraps in five sizes. For service display, the most commonly ordered size is 16" × 20", which is visible from across a standard visitation room and fits any floor easel. For larger venues — churches, chapels, reception halls — the 20" × 30" or 24" × 36" provides greater presence. For additional tribute prints or smaller display positions, the 11" × 14" is popular as a keepsake copy.
Eight frame styles are available for families who prefer framed presentation: dark walnut, mocha brown, black, cherry, silver, white, and two additional finishes. Framed canvases ship pre-assembled and ready to hang or set on an easel — no tools or hardware assembly required. Full pricing including frames and all sizes is listed on our prices page.
Pictures for memorials have a life beyond the immediate service. Many families distribute smaller copies to adult children, grandchildren, and close friends who were important in the person's life. A 11" × 14" copy of the same enhanced portrait makes a meaningful gift that the recipient can display in their own home.
For anniversary memorials — the one-year or five-year mark, a birthday, or another significant date — additional copies of the same portrait are available. We retain the enhanced digital file, so reproducing the image in any size is straightforward. Contact our team through the contact page to order additional prints from an existing file.
Memorial canvases are archival-quality and built for long-term home display. Archival pigment inks on professional canvas resist fading and deterioration far longer than standard photo paper prints. Families who ordered pictures for a memorial service ten or twenty years ago often describe the portrait as looking as vibrant today as it did when it arrived. That durability is a deliberate design choice — we believe that pictures for memorials should last as long as the memory they honor.
Orders placed by noon Eastern time ship the same business day via overnight air delivery, typically arriving the following morning. For services planned within 24 to 72 hours, our standard timeline comfortably accommodates most situations. For services with less than 24 hours of notice, contact our team directly and we will work with you on what is feasible based on your location and timeline.
After submitting your order, you will receive a digital proof by email within a few hours. Review it carefully, request any adjustments, and approve. Once approved, your pictures for memorials move to print immediately. See our full process overview on the how it works page.
Related: Memorial Pictures • Memorial Portraits • Photos for Funeral Display • How It Works • Pricing
