A profile photo that looks like you had it taken

What makes a LinkedIn photo work

A LinkedIn photo is not a portrait for its own sake — it is a small circle, often viewed at around 100 pixels wide in a feed or a recruiter's search results. Anything subtle is lost at that size, so the things that matter are big and simple: a clearly lit face, a background that does not compete, and framing that puts your head and shoulders in the frame rather than your whole body.

That is the brief the headshot generator works to. It keeps your features as they are and changes the conditions around them: even lighting instead of harsh overhead shadow, a plain or softly blurred background instead of a kitchen, and a crop tightened to head-and-shoulders so you are still readable at thumbnail size.

• Head and shoulders framing, with your eyes roughly a third from the top
• Even light across the face, no strong shadow on one side
• A calm background — plain, neutral or gently blurred
• Neutral, current clothing that matches how you dress for work
• A natural expression: relaxed mouth, eyes to camera

Which style to pick

The four styles change the lighting, background and overall mood rather than your face. If you are unsure, generate two variants in different styles and see which one people in your field would recognise as normal.

• Corporate — neutral grey or office background, formal lighting. Finance, law, consulting, public sector.
• Modern — soft light, clean minimal background. Tech, product, startups, marketing.
• Creative — more contrast and colour, editorial feel. Design, media, photography, the arts.
• Outdoor — natural daylight and a blurred outdoor setting. Coaching, wellbeing, hospitality, education.

How to give it a good source photo

The single biggest factor in the result is the photo you upload. The generator can improve lighting and background; it cannot recover detail that was never captured. A recent phone photo taken near a window, front-facing, with nothing covering your face, is usually better than an old professional shot at low resolution.

• Face the camera with your whole face visible — no sunglasses, hats or heavy filters
• Use daylight or a bright, even indoor light rather than a direct flash
• Upload the largest version of the file you have, not a screenshot of it
• Avoid group photos and anything cropped tightly from a distant shot

What it costs, clearly

The headshot generator sits on the Pro and Elite plans because each photo is a separate image generation. 4 credits covers your first two variants; each additional photo is 2 credits, up to six in one run. You are charged for photos that generate successfully, and all prices on the site are shown before VAT, which is added at checkout.

Pay-as-you-go downloads stay available for 24 hours. On a monthly plan your results stay in your account, and you can always find them again under My files.