Photo & Image Policy

Effective Date: 16 August 2026

The photographs you send me are not files. They are your people, and often the only pictures of them that exist.

This page explains, in plain words, how photographs can be sent to me, what I am allowed to do with them, how long I keep them, and who decides whether they are ever seen by anyone else. That last decision is always yours.

Who Can Order, And Photographs Containing Children

You must be aged 18 or over to submit an enquiry or place an order with Solace Keeps.

Your photographs may contain people under 18, including children. What matters is that you have the necessary right, authority or permission to provide every photograph you send me, and to have it used to create your commissioned portrait — including where someone under 18 appears in it.

You will be asked to confirm this when you submit your photographs, and your order cannot be placed without that confirmation.

Photographs are only processed as far as is necessary to create the portrait you have commissioned, unless you have separately given permission for another use. If you are not sure whether you have the permission you need, please ask me before you order rather than wondering.

Permission To Provide Photographs

Please only send me photographs that you have the necessary right and/or permission to provide. You do not need to own the copyright in a photograph — many treasured family pictures were taken by someone else entirely — but you do need to be entitled to hand it to me and have it used for your portrait.

Where another living adult appears in a photograph, it is your responsibility to obtain any permission needed for their image to be provided to me and used in creating your commissioned portrait.

You will be asked to confirm both of these things when you order. Please do not knowingly send photographs you are not entitled to provide — if that later comes to light I may have to stop work, and neither of us wants that.

Permission To Edit & Process Photographs

Bringing people together in one portrait means working on the photographs themselves. By placing an order and completing the photo permissions, you authorise me to:

• Crop your photographs
• Retouch your photographs
• Restore your photographs where appropriate
• Combine your photographs
• Adjust positioning, lighting and composition
• Digitally edit your photographs as far as is reasonably necessary to create your commissioned portrait
• Process your photographs using professional editing software and AI-assisted image tools where reasonably necessary to create your commissioned portrait

AI-assisted tools may be used to help combine photographs, restore images, adjust backgrounds, lighting, colour and composition, and create the requested portrait. I remain involved in the creative process and personally review and refine the finished artwork.

You will be asked to confirm that you are happy for your photographs to be processed using these tools before submitting your photographs.

These changes are made for one purpose only: to create the artwork you have asked me for. Nothing is altered for any other reason, and you will see the result before anything is printed.

Photograph Suitability

Not every photograph will work, and I would always rather tell you that early than disappoint you later.

I may ask you for alternative photographs where an image is too unclear, heavily edited, obstructed, or otherwise unsuitable for the portrait you have in mind. If you have others available, that is often all it takes.

If I decide that your requested artwork cannot reasonably be created to a standard I would be willing to put my name to, I will contact you and explain why.

Where that happens and you have already paid, you receive a full refund. This is set out in my Terms & Conditions and my Refunds & Returns policy. For help choosing images that work well, see my Photo Guidelines.

How Long Photographs Are Kept

Your original uploaded photographs, and the working image files created from them, are normally kept for up to 90 days after your order is completed. That window is there so you can come back to me for a follow-up or an adjustment without having to send everything again.

After that they are securely deleted, unless:

• There is a legal or otherwise legitimate reason that requires them to be kept for longer; or
• You have specifically asked for a different arrangement and it is appropriate for me to agree to it.

Full details of how your photographs and personal information are stored, used and deleted — including who else handles them along the way — are in my Privacy Policy.

Sharing Finished Portraits

Your finished portrait will not be publicly displayed anywhere unless you have given me permission for that.

When you order, you choose whether your finished portrait may be shown on:

• The Solace Keeps website
• Solace Keeps social media accounts
• Solace Keeps advertising and marketing materials

You can also ask me to check with you first each time, rather than giving a general yes or no.

Saying no makes absolutely no difference to your order. It does not affect your price, your turnaround, or the care that goes into your portrait. Your memories belong to you, and plenty of families would rather keep them private — that is entirely normal and never a problem.

Original Photographs & Before-and-After Examples

These are two separate decisions, and I treat them that way.

Giving permission to publicly share your finished portrait does not give permission to publicly display the original photographs you supplied.

Your original photographs are only ever shown publicly as part of a before-and-after example where you have separately agreed to that, in the additional question you are asked at the time of ordering. If you have not been asked, or you did not answer yes, they stay private.

Changing Or Withdrawing Sharing Permission

Where public sharing rests on your permission, you can change your mind. Just email me at stephanie@solacekeeps.co.uk and tell me what you would like — you do not need to give a reason.

I will stop using your portrait or photographs in that way, and remove them from anywhere I control, as promptly as I reasonably can.

Withdrawing your permission does not undo use that already took place lawfully while it was given.

I also want to be honest about the limits of what I can promise. Once something has appeared publicly, I cannot guarantee that every copy elsewhere disappears — a social media platform's own cache, a repost, or someone's screenshot sits outside my control. I will do everything within my power, and I will tell you plainly what I have been able to do.

Privacy

Your photographs and the story behind them are treated with the care they deserve.

Your photographs are never sold. They are only shared with or processed by service providers where necessary to provide the service you have requested, operate Solace Keeps, or where required by law. Further details are provided in my Privacy Policy.

Full information about how your personal information and photographs are handled, who processes them, how long they are kept and what rights you have is in my Privacy Policy.

If you would like help choosing which photographs to send, my Photo Guidelines walk you through it — and you are always welcome to just ask me.