Guides
How to Turn a Photo into Anime Art (and Put It on a Mug)
Turn a photo of yourself, your partner or your pet into anime art in under a minute, compare four anime styles, and get it printed on a mug, t-shirt or poster.
Anime portraits used to mean commissioning an artist and waiting a few weeks. That’s still a great option if you want a one-of-a-kind drawing, but if you’d like to see yourself, your partner or your dog as an anime character today, you can do it from a single photo in about a minute.
Here’s how it works at Mindless Blob, which anime style to pick, and what to do with the result.
Step 1: Pick an anime style
“Anime” covers a lot of ground, so we have a few takes on it:
- Cutesy Anime is the classic: bright colors, soft line art and big expressive eyes. It’s our most popular style, and the safest pick for couples and family photos.
- Chibi Anime shrinks everyone into tiny bodies with oversized heads. It’s the one to choose when you want maximum cute, and it works especially well for kids and pets.
- Kawaii Sticker turns your subject into a chunky pastel character with a white die-cut border, like a sticker you’d put on a laptop.
- Neo-Tokyo Noir goes the other way: neon purple and pink light, bold shadows and a moody night-city atmosphere.
Not sure which one suits your photo? The demo shows the same sample photo in every style with a before/after slider, so you can compare them side by side.
Step 2: Upload your photo
Open the style’s page and upload a photo. Your preview is ready in under a minute, and your first previews are free, so you can try the same photo in two or three styles before deciding.
A few things make a big difference to the result:
- Faces should be easy to see. Anime styles redraw eyes and expressions, so a clear, well-lit face gives the style more to work with.
- Keep the group small. One to four people (or pets) leaves room for detail in every face.
- Don’t worry about the background. It’s redrawn too, so a messy living room becomes a soft illustrated one.
We go deeper on this in how to choose a photo that looks great as art.
Step 3: Put it on something
Once you have a preview you like, you’ll see it on every product we make before you add anything to your cart. For anime art, three products stand out:
- A mug is the everyday choice, and an easy gift. It’s an 11 oz. ceramic mug that’s dishwasher and microwave safe, with a white, black or colored handle and inside.
- A t-shirt if you want to wear it. The print goes straight onto a soft cotton tee in sizes S to 3XL.
- A wall poster for a bedroom or desk wall, in sizes from letter-size up to 36″ × 48″.
If you only want the artwork, you can also buy the full-resolution image on its own as a digital download.
Does it still look like me?
That’s the point of doing it from your own photo. Our styles change the look, not the people: the pose, hair, clothing and composition stay as they are in your photo, and a person checks every image before an order is made. If a preview doesn’t look quite right, try a different photo or style before you order.
