Why we stopped making the 12cm
We used to offer a 12cm panel as the entry size, and we have retired it deliberately. The reason is detail density. A lithophane reproduces your photograph by varying the thickness of the material across the panel, and there is a physical floor on how fine those variations can be. On a 12cm panel, that floor starts eating the things people care about most — the catchlight in an eye, the edge of a smile, the individual strands in someone's hair. The lamp still worked, but it flattened faces, and a photo lamp that flattens faces is not really doing its job. Starting at 15cm means every lamp we send out holds the detail that made you choose the photo.
15cm: the everyday choice
This is the size most people should order, and not as a compromise. At 15cm a single portrait reads cleanly, faces hold their expression, and the lamp sits comfortably on a bedside table, a study desk or a shelf without dominating the surface. It is also the friendlier size for gifting: easy to wrap, easy to carry, and easy for the recipient to find a home for, which matters more than it sounds. If you are sending one photograph of one or two people, 15cm is very likely the right answer.
18cm: when the photo deserves the room
Go up to 18cm when the image is busier than a simple portrait. Group photographs are the clearest case — a family of five, a full wedding party, a team shot — because each face gets proportionally more panel to occupy, and faces are exactly where detail loss shows first. Wide landscape scenes with fine texture benefit too, as does any photograph destined for a living room or entryway where it will be viewed from a few feet away rather than an arm's length. The larger panel also throws a broader, softer pool of light, which reads as more of a feature piece and less of a bedside object.
Size is only half of it — the photo is the other half
It is worth saying plainly: an 18cm panel will not rescue a dark or blurry photograph. Lithophanes sculpt their image from real contrast between light and shadow, so a bright, sharp, well-lit picture at 15cm will always beat a soft, dim one at 18cm. Before you decide on size, decide on the photo — and if you are unsure whether yours has the contrast to work, send it across first. We would rather tell you honestly that a different picture would glow better than take the order and hand you something merely acceptable.
