You have chosen a design or sent us a photograph, and when the canvas arrives the colours look a little different from what you saw on screen. It is one of the most common questions we hear, and there is a simple, reassuring explanation.
A fixed palette of real colours
Diamond paintings are made with the DMC colour system, a set of around 450 fixed shades first created for embroidery. Every diamond in your kit is one of those shades. A photograph can hold millions of tones, so it has to be translated into that smaller palette.
In practice this gives the finished piece its mosaic character. Soft gradients become gentle steps of colour, skin tones become a careful interpretation of the most important shades, and light and shadow appear as clearer fields. It is not a fault but the nature of the medium.
Why the screen and the canvas differ
Your screen is not the canvas
A preview is digital, and every screen shows colour slightly differently depending on brightness, contrast and settings. The finished piece is physical, made of resin diamonds that catch and reflect light. The same lavender can look blue on one phone and grey on another.
Light changes everything
Warm evening lamps, cool daylight and the angle you view from all change how the colours read. Because the diamonds are faceted, the piece seems to shift with the light through the day, which is a large part of its charm.
Size and detail
The more diamonds a canvas holds, the smoother its transitions. Portraits and detailed scenes look most natural on a larger canvas, as we explain in why larger diamond paintings show more detail.
How to get the best result
- Choose a sharp, well lit photograph with a clear subject.
- Go larger for faces, fur and fine textures.
- Avoid very dark or low contrast images.
- Keep the background simple, so the subject stands out.
Every custom design from our Custom Atelier is prepared by hand, and we will tell you before production if we think a photograph will not translate well. Read more in how to choose a photograph.
More than colour
A diamond painting is an interpretation, not a photocopy. What it gives you instead is depth and sparkle that no screen can show, and a piece you made slowly with your own hands. Unsure about a photograph or a size? Write to us and we will give you an honest recommendation.