A glass portrait begins with a design that Tedooo technology draws from your photograph, taking about a minute. After your approval and a cleared payment, the studio sorts the glass by colour, cuts each piece to shape, layers the relief on linen and frames it in a walnut shadow box, in about five weeks.
How does a glass portrait start?
It starts with a photo, uploaded on the create page. Tedooo's design technology reads it and draws the portrait in glass in about a minute. The design is free and needs no card; edit the name or swap the photo and let it draw again, repeating until one is right.
The studio does not draw the design; Tedooo does. What the studio does is build it. The split is deliberate: the drawing is fast and free so that you can see the piece before anything is cut, and the building is slow and by hand because the material is glass.
What happens when I approve a design?
The approved design is what gets made, so the order of things is approve, then pay. The card is not touched before Tedooo's checkout, and cutting waits for the payment to clear.
Before the first piece of glass is cut, the studio compares the design with your photograph. The studio's only use for that photograph is drawing and building your piece; it goes nowhere else, teaches nothing, and is erased once the order is complete.
How is the glass cut and layered?
Each piece of glass is cut to the shape the design needs, placed by hand with fine tweezers and fixed with adhesive, then built up one layer over the next into dimensional relief, so the face stands up off the linen.
- The loose glass is sorted by colour into small dishes, matched to the colours in the design.
- Each piece is cut to its shape.
- The pieces are placed on the linen, one layer over the next, so the relief builds up and throws its own small shadows.
- The eyes are done last and get the most time of any part.
This is the stage that makes the piece what it is. A print would be finished in a moment; the relief is what takes the weeks. What each part is made of is on the materials page.
How is it mounted and framed?
The relief is built on a natural linen ground and finished in a dark walnut shadow box deep enough to hold it. The shadow box is the last stage of the making, and the piece leaves ready to hang on the box's own fitting.
| Stage | Who | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Drawing the design | Tedooo technology | About a minute |
| Approving and paying | You, checked out through Tedooo | Nothing is cut until it clears |
| Cutting, layering, mounting, framing | The studio, by hand | Inside the delivery estimate shown before you pay |
| Packing and shipping | The studio, tracked end to end | Inside the delivery estimate |
| Door to door | Studio to your address | About five weeks; 32–36 days today |
How is it packed and sent?
It is boxed with its corners protected and tracked end to end. It reaches most addresses in about five weeks; the estimate for your order is shown before you pay, and today it reads 32–36 days.
The piece ships worldwide, with shipping and any duties calculated at checkout. If a date matters, the lead time guide sets out where the weeks go and the Christmas cut-off.
Questions this leaves
Who draws the design?
Tedooo's design technology, the engine Tedooo uses for all of its made-to-order listings. The studio builds what it draws: the glass, the linen and the frame are the studio's, and the studio compares the design with your photograph before touching any glass.
Can I change the design after approving it?
The approved design is what gets built, so make the changes before you approve: edit the name or swap the photo and let it draw again, free, as often as needed. If it is still not there, use the box under the result to tell the studio, which replies the same working day.
Is any part of it printed?
No. The portrait is glass, cut and layered by hand on linen. Nothing is printed onto the glass or the cloth, and a name or a line, when you add one, is set in glass lettering under the portrait rather than printed.
Do you start making it before I pay?
No. The card is not touched before checkout, and nothing goes under the blade until the payment has cleared. Drawing the design is free and needs no card, so you can see the piece, change it and draw it again before deciding.
