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MemorialPrintKit

How do you add a name and dates to a memorial photo?

Type the name on one line and the years on the next, place them near the bottom of the picture in a small, plain typeface, and have someone else check the spelling and the dates before printing. Our memorial photo editor adds the words to every print size at once, in the same place on each.

Five steps

All of this happens in the editor’s print stage, on a preview of the portrait with its background already in place.

  1. Type the words. Each line you type is a line on the print, and nothing is re-wrapped. "Margaret Ellis" on one line and "1938 – 2026" on the next stay exactly that way.
  2. Choose where they sit. Nine positions, from the top corners to the bottom corners. Bottom centre is the usual place on a service portrait and is where the editor starts.
  3. Set the size and the ink. The size is the height of the letters, and it stays put as you type, so a short name does not come out enormous. Use dark ink on a light background and light ink on a dark one, and lower the opacity if the words feel too heavy.
  4. Pick a typeface. A serif or a plain sans, with bold and all-capitals as options. A plain face at a modest size reads best from across a room.
  5. Have someone else read it. Check the preview with a second person before downloading. A misspelt name or a wrong year is the mistake nobody notices until the portrait is on the easel.

Add A Name And Dates Now

What usually goes on it

The name people knew them by, and the years. Full dates are fine too; they take a longer line. Some families add a short third line, such as "In loving memory" or a phrase the person used. More than three lines starts to compete with the face.

The same on every size

The words are sized and placed relative to each print, not in fixed pixels. Placed once, they land in the same position on the 5x7, the 8x10 and the 20x24, and they sit a little in from the edge so a frame’s mat does not cover them.

What it costs

Editing, the print-size check, the background and the enlargement are free, and so are watermarked downloads to see the result. The clean full-size files for that photograph, every frame size in one ZIP for the print shop, are $12 once, with no account and no subscription.

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Last updated 2026-09-18.