Photo A/B Battle: Which Profile Picture Is Best?
Add two to four photos of yourself. We score pose, lighting, framing, sharpness and expression on-device and rank them for dating and social profiles.
Free no signup478 landmarksOn-device no upload~3 s to result
Same person · 2–4 photos · nothing is uploaded
Add photos to start the battle
Method
How it works and the exact formula
Your face doesn't change between photos, but your score does. Lens distance, head angle, lighting, focus and expression all change how a face reads, and they are exactly what decides whether a dating or social profile picture works. This tool compares two to four photos of the same person and ranks them on five factors, entirely in your browser.
Each photo runs through MediaPipe Face Landmarker (478 landmarks) after being resized and orientation-corrected on your device. Pose uses the yaw ratio (how far the nose tip sits from the center between the cheekbones) and head roll on the iris line. Lighting uses the average brightness of the face region. Framing uses the share of the image width taken up by the face: too small reads as distant, too large means the phone was close enough to distort the nose and narrow the jaw.
Sharpness is measured with the variance of the Laplacian, a standard focus measure: we convert the face crop to grayscale, apply a 3×3 edge filter and measure how much the edges vary. Blurry photos have low variance. Expression compares the height of the mouth corners with the center of the lips; corners above the center indicate a smile, which research on first impressions links to approachability and trustworthiness.
The five factor scores are combined with weights of 25% pose, 20% lighting, 20% framing, 20% sharpness and 15% expression. The winner is the photo with the highest total, and the panel shows each factor side by side plus the weakest point of the runner-up so you know how to retake it.
Because all photos show the same face, differences in score come from the photo, not from you. That's what makes this useful: it tells you which shot represents you best and which fix (stepping back, turning toward the light, holding still) would improve the others. The geometric harmony score isn't part of the ranking, since it should be the same across photos of the same person; when it varies a lot between your photos, that variation is itself a sign of lens or angle distortion.
Formulas
- Yaw ratio
- |d(L1, L234) − d(L1, L454)| ÷ (d(L1, L234) + d(L1, L454))
- Pose
- ½ · (Gauss(yaw, 0, 0.07) + Gauss(roll, 0°, 8°))
- Lighting / framing
- Gauss(brightness, 135, 40) · Gauss(face width ÷ image width, 0.42, 0.14)
- Sharpness
- 100 · (1 − e^(−Var(∇²I) ÷ 120)) on a 192 × 192 grayscale face crop
- Total
- 0.25·pose + 0.20·lighting + 0.20·framing + 0.20·sharpness + 0.15·expression
MediaPipe landmarks used
| Anatomical point | Index | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Nose tip | 1 | Yaw: distance to each cheekbone. |
| Zygion | 234 / 454 | Yaw reference and face width for framing. |
| Iris centers | 468 / 473 | Level the face (roll correction) before any ratio is computed. |
| Mouth corners | 61 / 291 | Smile detection. |
| Inner lip center | 13 / 14 | Lip center line for smile detection. |
| Face bounding box | all 478 | Lighting, sharpness and framing are measured inside it. |
Benchmarks
Photo factor bands and their scores
| Factor | Band | Measured range | Factor score | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pose (yaw) | Front-facing | 0 – 0.05 | 77–100 | Keep it |
| Pose (yaw) | Turned | 0.10 – 0.20 | 2–36 | Face the lens; a slight turn is fine for profiles |
| Lighting | Even | 100 – 170 / 255 | 68–100 | Keep it |
| Lighting | Dark | < 80 / 255 | < 39 | Face a window |
| Framing | Good crop | 30 – 55% of width | 69–100 | Keep it |
| Framing | Too close | > 65% of width | < 26 | Step back or use the rear camera |
| Sharpness | Crisp | variance > 120 | 63–100 | Keep it |
| Sharpness | Soft | variance < 70 | < 44 | Clean the lens, use more light |
Factor scores are computed with the same functions the tool runs; the measured ranges are for photos resized to at most 1280 px.
Styling
Styling and virtual try-on by result
After choosing your best photo, use what the factors tell you to take an even better one.
Framing too close
Hold the phone at arm's length or use a friend and the rear camera at 2× zoom. Close selfies enlarge the nose and narrow the jaw.
See how lens distance affects symmetryLow lighting score
Face a window in daylight; avoid overhead bulbs that cast eye shadows and direct flash that flattens the face.
Use the daylight photo for color analysisNeutral expression
For dating photos, a genuine smile with eye involvement usually performs best. For professional photos, a slight closed-mouth smile.
Check your harmony scorePick an outfit too
Colors from your season and a neckline that suits your face shape make the winner even stronger.
Preview necklinesTry a new look first
Render hairstyles, frames and outfits on your best photo before your next shoot.
Open the Try-On StudioBest Photo Picker: frequently asked questions
Which photo of me is the most attractive?
Upload two to four photos of yourself and the tool ranks them on pose, lighting, framing, sharpness and expression. The winner is the photo that presents your face most faithfully and warmly.
What makes a good dating profile picture?
A clear, well-lit photo of your face at eye level, taken from at least arm's length, with a genuine smile and nothing covering your eyes. Your first photo should be just you.
Are my photos uploaded to compare them?
No. All analysis runs in your browser. The photos never leave your device and disappear when you close the page.
Why do I look different in selfies than in other photos?
Front cameras are close to your face, which exaggerates the nose and narrows the face, and they're mirrored by default. Photos taken from farther away with a longer focal length look more like you appear to others.
Should I smile in my profile picture?
First-impression research links smiling to approachability and trustworthiness, which is why smiles help most dating and social photos. For professional headshots a softer smile still reads warmer than a blank expression.
Can this pick between photos of different people?
It's designed for photos of the same person. Comparing different people would mostly measure their faces rather than the photos.
How many photos can I compare?
Up to four at once. Remove one to add another, as many times as you like.
References
- Willis J, Todorov A (2006). First impressions: making up your mind after a 100-ms exposure to a face. Psychological Science 17(7):592–598.
- Todorov A, Olivola CY, Dotsch R, Mende-Siedlecki P (2015). Social attributions from faces: determinants, consequences, accuracy, and functional significance. Annual Review of Psychology 66:519–545.
- Ward B, Ward M, Fried O, Paskhover B (2018). Nasal distortion in short-distance photographs: the selfie effect. JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery 20(4):333–335.
- Kartynnik Y, Ablavatski A, Grishchenko I, Grundmann M (2019). Real-time Facial Surface Geometry from Monocular Video on Mobile GPUs. CVPR Workshop on Computer Vision for AR/VR.
Keep exploring
Related free tools and guides
Free tool
Attractiveness Test
A geometry-based facial harmony score from 1 to 100, broken down by region, with the styling moves that flatter your strongest features.
Free tool
Face Symmetry Test
Find out how symmetric your face is with a 0–100 score from 12 mirrored landmark pairs, corrected for head tilt.
Free tool
Personal Color Analysis
Find your 12-season palette from a single selfie: six best colors, three to avoid, and a free neckline preview rendered in your best shade.
Free tool
Celebrity Bone Structure
We match your facial geometry, not your hair or makeup, against 30 celebrities, then show the styling that works on your structural twin.