How custom car art works
Commissioned car portraits are wonderful and slow - budget pieces start around £125, but an established automotive artist typically charges £250-£600 and carries a four-to-ten-week waiting list. The Paint Shop gets you to the same place in minutes. Upload your photo, pick a style, and a free preview appears. Adjust, try another style, compare - then order only the one you love. We render the final at full gallery resolution and print it to order.
Nine styles, one car
Oil painting turns your car into an old-master masterpiece - rich impasto, varnished depth, the gravitas of a gilt-framed gallery portrait. Watercolour goes the other way: loose pigment washes, blooms and white paper breathing through. Vintage racing poster gives it the lithographic romance of the golden-age era; blueprint redraws it as white technical linework on cyanotype blue, the engineering treatment.
Then there's single line - one confident stroke, like the Silhouette Era set; neon night drive in the synthwave glow of a midnight expressway; garage noir in dramatic black and white; bold pop art screen-print halftones; and a designer sketch straight off a studio presentation board. Try as many as you like - previews are free.
Print fidelity, checked before you pay
A custom car print is only as good as the file behind it. We check your uploaded photo against the exact size you order - resolution, aspect, bleed - and tell you before checkout if it will not print beautifully, not after. See the size guide and framing guide to choose.
The perfect car gift
A personalised print of someone's own car is the rare gift they cannot already own - see the gifts for car lovers guide for budgets and pairings.
How do I turn a photo of my car into art?+
Upload a photo to the Paint Shop, choose from nine styles - a classic oil painting, watercolour, vintage racing poster, blueprint, single-line, garage noir, pop art, designer sketch or neon night drive - and see a free preview in seconds. If you love it, we render it at full gallery resolution and print it. No account needed, three free previews a day.
How much does a custom car print cost?+
The same as the collection: A3 posters from £24, framed prints £69-£89, canvas up to £79 - UK delivery included. A hand-painted commission elsewhere runs £250-£600 from an established artist (budget pieces from around £125) and takes four to ten weeks; this is a fraction of that and ready in minutes.
Can you make art of any make or model of car?+
Yes - because the art is generated from your own photo, any car works: classic, supercar, JDM, hot hatch, daily driver, project car. We do not use brand badges or liveries from our own catalogue, but your photo is your photo.
What photo works best for a custom car portrait?+
A sharp, well-lit three-quarter shot - the front and one side visible - on an uncluttered background. We check your photo against the exact print size you order and tell you before you pay if the resolution will not hold up.
Will a personalised car print arrive in time for a gift?+
The preview is instant. Production takes 2-4 working days plus 2-5 for UK delivery, so order roughly a week ahead. It is the car gift they cannot already own.
About the author. Craig Fearn is the founder of Petrol & Ink and built the Paint Shop custom-art tool. He writes about car art, framing and turning photos into prints.