Every wrinkle in place, and the face kept round
A pug is all face: the deep wrinkles over the nose, the black mask, the thumbprint on the forehead, eyes that always seem to be asking for something. The breed standard calls it multum in parvo, a lot in a little, and on a shirt the trick is keeping all of that in proportion. Starting from your photo does that; clip art never has.
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How this coat prints
A fawn pug packs more contrast into a small space than almost any dog: a pale apricot or silver coat, then a black mask, black ears and a black thumbprint, all within a few inches. On a black shirt the photo presets let the deepest black drop into the fabric, which on a pug is the whole mask, so neither shirt here is black. On moss the mask turns into the shirt's olive rather than a black hole, so the face keeps its frame while the fawn coat glows; yam does a similar job with more warmth. Black pugs reverse the advice and show far more of the face on a light shirt such as seafoam or ivory. The coat is short and glossy, so most of the detail lives in the wrinkles rather than the fur.
The photo to use
A pug's face is nearly flat, and its most forward points are the eyes, which is exactly what a phone's wide lens exaggerates up close. From a hand's width away the eyes swell, the wrinkles stretch and the little black ears all but disappear. Stand a couple of steps back, zoom with the phone's 2x lens rather than your feet, and let the app's square crop do the rest. Then light it from the front, ideally with a window: the eyes sit inside the black mask, and a catchlight is the only thing separating one from the other.
Presets that suit this dog
The wide boba straw sits right at the front of the face, and on a muzzle this short, straw and face come out at the same scale, with the bucket hat perched on that round head.
Birthday Pup asks for wide eyes and an excited face, and a pug supplies the eyes without being asked, with the party hat perched on that flat-topped head.
Gold Name turns the wrinkles into engraving, every fold a run of fine cream strokes on black, while the black mask stays bare shirt and the name sits in gold behind. Black, pepper, navy or moss only.
Questions
Does a black pug need a different shirt from a fawn one?
Yes, the opposite one. A fawn pug glows on a dark shirt; a black pug sinks into one on the photo presets and reads far better on seafoam, ivory or butter, where the whole outline shows. Window light matters even more, because the eyes and the coat are the same colour.
Will the shirt show the curl of the tail?
No. Almost every preset frames the face and chest, so the tail is out of shot. What carries through is everything on the face: the wrinkles, the mask, the thumbprint and both ears.
My pug's tongue is always out. Will that show?
If it's out in the photo, it's out on the shirt, because the expression comes from your photo rather than being redrawn. If that's the face you love, it's the face to upload.
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