putme.ink

Put your face in a painting

One hundred and five paintings, one selfie, no account. Here is what actually happens to the picture, and how to pick the one that will work.

It repaints the face, it does not paste it

The result is not your photograph cut out and dropped into a frame. Your features are rebuilt inside the painting that is already there, so they pick up its light, its palette and its brushwork — which is why the same selfie comes out of a 1433 oil panel looking nothing like it comes out of an 1887 canvas of short broken strokes.

That is also the honest limit of it. The painting decides the angle of the head, the lighting and the expression; you are supplying a face, not a pose. Choosing the work is most of choosing the result.

Which selfie works

One face, looking more or less at the camera, with both eyes visible and reasonably even light. Sunglasses, a hand across the chin, a hard shadow down one side, or a face turned far enough that one eye is gone are the four things that most often come back wrong.

It does not need to be a good photograph. The painting supplies the drama; a plain, flatly lit snapshot usually converts better than a carefully composed one.

What it costs and what is kept

Making one is free, and sharing one earns the allowance back. The selfie itself is never written to disk — it is used to make the image and dropped. The finished picture is stored, because it has a link that other people open, and it goes away after ninety days.

Mona Lisa Mona Lisa Girl with a Pearl Earring Girl with a Pearl Earring Van Gogh Self-Portrait Van Gogh Self-Portrait The Laughing Cavalier The Laughing Cavalier Dürer's Self-Portrait Dürer's Self-Portrait Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat Man in a Red Turban Man in a Red Turban Rembrandt's Self-Portrait Rembrandt's Self-Portrait Lady with an Ermine Lady with an Ermine Henry VIII Henry VIII The Blue Boy The Blue Boy American Gothic American Gothic Elizabeth I Elizabeth I Louis XIV Louis XIV Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X Artemisia's Self-Portrait Artemisia's Self-Portrait Charles VII Charles VII Portrait of a Lady Portrait of a Lady Portrait of a Young Girl Portrait of a Young Girl Proserpine Proserpine Lady Agnew of Lochnaw Lady Agnew of Lochnaw Queen Victoria Queen Victoria Charles Dickens Charles Dickens Napoleon Napoleon George Washington George Washington Juan de Pareja Juan de Pareja Baldassare Castiglione Baldassare Castiglione Il Condottiere Il Condottiere Man with a Quilted Sleeve Man with a Quilted Sleeve Eleonora di Toledo Eleonora di Toledo Thomas More Thomas More Jane Seymour Jane Seymour Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn Mary I Mary I Edward VI Edward VI Judith Leyster Judith Leyster Jan Six Jan Six Girl with a Red Hat Girl with a Red Hat Carel Fabritius Carel Fabritius Saskia Saskia Philip IV Philip IV The Desperate Man The Desperate Man Cezanne Cezanne Dr Pozzi at Home Dr Pozzi at Home Fayum Portrait of a Woman Fayum Portrait of a Woman Young Man Holding a Roundel Young Man Holding a Roundel Frederick the Great Frederick the Great Charles V Charles V Louis XVI Louis XVI Portrait of a Young Woman Portrait of a Young Woman Bearded Man with a Ruff Bearded Man with a Ruff Aristotle with a Bust of Homer Aristotle with a Bust of Homer Memling: Portrait of a Man Memling: Portrait of a Man Margaret van Eyck Margaret van Eyck Jan Steen Jan Steen Madame Moitessier Madame Moitessier Mademoiselle Rivière Mademoiselle Rivière Goya Goya Portrait of an Unknown Woman Portrait of an Unknown Woman Girl with Peaches Girl with Peaches Whistler Whistler Boldini: Lady Nanne Schrader Boldini: Lady Nanne Schrader Fayum Portrait of a Man Fayum Portrait of a Man Fayum Portrait of a Boy Fayum Portrait of a Boy Ginevra de’ Benci Ginevra de’ Benci La Belle Ferronnière La Belle Ferronnière The Tailor The Tailor The Halberdier The Halberdier Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror Sofonisba at the Easel Sofonisba at the Easel La Donna Velata La Donna Velata Titian Titian Young Venetian Woman Young Venetian Woman Georg Gisze Georg Gisze Rubens Rubens Ter Borch: Portrait of a Man Ter Borch: Portrait of a Man Malle Babbe Malle Babbe La Bohémienne La Bohémienne Adele Bloch-Bauer Adele Bloch-Bauer Self-Portrait with Cigarette Self-Portrait with Cigarette Egon Schiele Egon Schiele Philip II Philip II Catherine the Great Catherine the Great Mrs Siddons Mrs Siddons Joshua Reynolds Joshua Reynolds Emma Hamilton as Circe Emma Hamilton as Circe Berthe Morisot Berthe Morisot Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin Chopin Chopin Beethoven Beethoven Mozart Mozart Shakespeare Shakespeare Bronzino: A Young Man Bronzino: A Young Man Andrea del Sarto Andrea del Sarto Charles I at the Hunt Charles I at the Hunt Madame Récamier Madame Récamier Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Dostoevsky Dostoevsky Mussorgsky Mussorgsky Lotto: Young Man with a Book Lotto: Young Man with a Book Doge Leonardo Loredan Doge Leonardo Loredan Man in a Red Cap Man in a Red Cap John Singleton Copley John Singleton Copley

How it works

  1. Take a photo

    Front camera, decent light, look straight ahead. Or pick one you already have.

  2. We paint you in

    Your face goes into the painting, keeping its light and its brushwork. About fifteen seconds.

  3. Share the link

    You get a page anyone can open. No account, nothing to install.