If you are shopping for a paint by number kit, the choice is wider than it looks. Dozens of companies sell them and the kits vary a great deal in canvas quality, paint quality and how readable the printed numbers are. Below is a rundown of five paint by number companies selling in the USA, what each one does well, and who each one suits.
One thing to say plainly before you read on: this is Ledgebay's blog, and Ledgebay is the first company on the list. We have tried to be fair about the others and honest about where they do something we do not. Read it with that in mind.
1. Ledgebay
Ledgebay is a small Missouri company selling licensed artwork as paint by number kits — Americana scenes, wildlife, cabins, florals and seasonal designs, painted originally by artists like Kim Norlien, the Hautman Brothers and Judy Buswell. The artwork is licensed rather than pulled from a stock library, which is why the same images turn up in galleries and on prints.
The kits ship rolled in a tube rather than folded, so the canvas arrives without a crease down the middle. The paints are vacuum-sealed, and every kit includes an 11x17 reference printout, which matters more than it sounds — faint numbering is the most common complaint in this whole category.
Ledgebay also makes custom paint by numbers from your own photo. You upload the picture, choose a size, and it comes back as a numbered canvas with a matched paint set. That is the part of the catalog people come back for — a house, a dog, a wedding photo.
Where it falls short: the catalog is around 39 designs, so if you want abstract or modern art you will not find it here. Some of the designs are genuinely demanding, and a few reviewers have found the finest sections need a lamp and a magnifier.
2. Canvas by Numbers
Canvas by Numbers carries a much larger catalog than most, spanning classical reproductions, modern pieces and abstract work, listed alphabetically because there is so much of it. They also sell paints and accessories separately, which is useful if you run low mid-project.
Suits you if: you want breadth of choice, or you are after a specific famous painting.
3. Original Paint by Number
Original Paint by Number sells a broad DIY range across skill levels and ships internationally. You can browse by price or by category, which makes it easy to shop to a budget.
Suits you if: you are buying from outside the US, or shopping to a price.
4. Easy 123 Art
Easy 123 Art is a Kentucky company making personalized paint by number kits from customers' own photographs, alongside a catalog of ready-made designs. Their kits are made in America.
Suits you if: you want a custom canvas from a US maker.
5. Winnie's Picks
Winnie's Picks sells ready-printed kits in a wide, well-categorized range, with a reputation for straightforward, easy-to-use materials.
Suits you if: you want a simple, no-fuss kit and a big selection to browse.
How to compare paint by number companies
Most of the difference between a kit you enjoy and one you abandon comes down to four things. They are worth checking on any company's product page before you buy.
- How the canvas ships. Rolled in a tube arrives flat. Folded arrives creased, and a crease across a face or a sky is very hard to paint over.
- How the paint is sealed. Acrylic dries in the pot. Vacuum-sealed pots arrive wet; loosely lidded ones sometimes do not. If paint does arrive thick, a drop of water usually brings it back.
- How readable the numbers are. This is the single most common complaint across the category. A large-format reference print solves most of it.
- Whether replacement paint exists. One color always runs out first, usually the sky or the background. Check that you can buy more of it.
If you are new to this and want the longer version, our beginner's guide to paint by numbers walks through the whole process.
Where paint by number came from
The idea belongs to the Palmer Paint Company of Detroit. In 1950 its owner, Max S. Klein, and the commercial artist Dan Robbins worked up the first sets, and the Craft Master brand launched the following year. They were enormously popular through the 1950s and 60s, faded, and have come back over the last decade — this time mostly with adults rather than children.
Part of that is the appeal of an evening that leaves something behind. Part of it is that the numbering removes the decisions. You are not choosing what to paint or how to mix a color, so the absorbed, unhurried part of painting arrives much faster. A 2016 Drexel University study of 39 adults found lower cortisol in three quarters of them after 45 minutes of art making, with no difference between people who had made art before and people who had not.
What's included in a kit
The five companies above differ in the details, but almost every adult kit includes the same basics:
- A printed, numbered canvas — rolled, folded or pre-stretched on a frame depending on the seller
- A numbered acrylic paint set, typically 24 colors
- A few brushes in different sizes
- A reference print of the finished image
- An instruction sheet
- Hanging hardware, on framed kits
Beyond that, sizes run from around 8x10 up to 20x24 and larger, and difficulty varies far more by design than by size. A large, simple landscape is easier than a small, busy portrait. If you want the finished piece to look sharper, a few finishing habits make a real difference.
Choosing between them
There is no single best paint by number company, only the one that fits what you want to paint. If you want a specific famous painting or something abstract, one of the large-catalog sellers will serve you better than we will. If you want licensed Americana, wildlife or florals — or you want to paint your own photograph — that is what we do.
You can see the full Ledgebay catalog here, or look through the customer gallery to see how the designs come out in other people's hands, which is usually more useful than the product photo.
