You start with a photo of your dog. You then print it out as a blk/wht photo onto paper the size you want. Kinkos or on your own printer. Mine is about 16 x 20. Lay velum over the top and draw your pattern from the different values on the photo. from this you get your applique pieces. I started with the whole shape of my dog as one fabric and build the other colors onto it. If you get the eyes positioned right the rest will look great. Some of the whiskers and hair are quilted in. Of course this is just a summary of how its done. It was a lot of fun and I am very pleased with how it turned out.