Let’s make your dreams come true and put your pets on your nails.

Mind the Dotted Line!

One of the most important things to remember when creating NailSnaps featuring your pets is to pay attention to the dotted line.

If you have shorter nail beds, place your pet’s face closer to the cuticle, in the upper half of the nail. Make sure you enlarge the stencil enough so that when you file off the excess wrap, at best you’ll have your pet’s whole face, and at worst you have your pet’s eyes and ears – the most recognizable parts.

See how the the eyes are close to the cuticle in the 2nd finger? Even if you have super short nails, this look will work.

The way to achieve this is by placing your pet’s face well above the dotted line so that you even on your shorter nails, you still get most of the face on your nail after you’ve filed away the excess.

If you’re a NailSnaps veteran and know how long your nails are in comparison with our stencil, you can flip the stencil around so your pet’s mouth is closer to the cuticle. I don’t recommend doing this if you don’t know how long your nails are in comparison to the stencil, or if you have shorter nail beds. But if you DO do it, make sure your pet’s entire face, ears included, is well within the dotted line.

This is really important.

If you don’t do this you may file off your pet’s face.

Make sure your pet’s entire face is well within the dotted line. Okay?

Make your pets pop!

Pets can have fur with inherent contrast to your nails – black cats, spotted dogs, or painted ponies. Sometimes all it takes to make your pets stand out on your nails is…nothing (other than Minding the Dotted Line!). So if your pet has this natural contrast, you don’t really need to do the steps below, but it can still be fun!

Find an illustration

This is great if you have a common breed. It might be a little difficult for those of us special snowflakes with mixed breeds. Google image search is magic for this – just remember that you should have permission to use the image.

If you want YOUR sweet pet’s face though, I recommend using an app like Imaengine to transform pet photos into illustrations.

This is a cute pic of my cat Chowder with Imaengine’s “iconizer” filter.

And here’s how it looks on my nails. Chowder approves!

Apply Filters

If your pet’s fur is a similar color to your skin tone, they’re not going to be poppin’ on your nail! Applying filters will give your nails the appearance of being pink/purple/blue/some color from far away, but very obviously your fuzzy friend up close!

Zoom out

This is an especially good idea if your pet has a particularly majestic profile, and a good way to add some color while they’re lying down on your blankets!

Here’s an example of how you can show off multiple cat images. Use Photoshop or an app like Diptic to create a grid of multiple pet images. Note how all the cats’ faces are well above the dotted line. Remember that this is VERY important.

If you’ve got a cute pic of your pet laying on a boring beige background, use Photoshop or other apps to colorize the boring part of the photo so your pet stands out. In the example below, I colorized the beige carpet so that my Chowder’s derpface stands out more clearly.

Here’s how that looks on my nails. Look at her showing off that pose again. Werk it.

Add stickers

Similarly, if you just want your fluffykins to be surrounded by color, add stickers from apps like Line Camera.

Enjoy you custom pet NailSnaps and remember to Mind the Dotted Line! Especially if your nail beds are short. Here at NailSnaps, our cats may outnumber our dogs, but we love all animals! What kinds of animals do you have? Have you put them on your NailSnaps yet? Comment below and tag us when you share your pet nails!