How to Edit a Professional Headshot: 10 Tips for Flawless Results

A professional headshot can make or break a first impression. Whether you're editing headshots for corporate clients, LinkedIn profiles, actor portfolios, or business websites, it's essential to ensure that the final image looks polished, yet natural. In this guide, we’ll walk you through a simple but effective workflow on how to edit a professional headshot, along with 10 expert tips and answers to frequently asked questions. Let’s dive in.

Simple Editing Workflow for Headshots That Sell

Before we jump into specific techniques, here’s a quick overview of an efficient workflow that professionals use for editing headshots:

Import & organize your raw files in Lightroom or Adobe Bridge.
Apply lens corrections and crop for best composition.
Adjust exposure & white balance to get natural skin tones.
Remove blemishes and distractions using retouching tools.
Enhance eyes and facial features carefully.
Retouch skin texture without losing realism.
Export in high resolution, optimized for web or print.

This workflow helps maintain consistency across batches of photos and streamlines the editing process.

1. Apply Lens and Composition Corrections

Start by applying lens corrections to eliminate distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting caused by your camera lens. In Adobe Lightroom, this can be done easily under the “Lens Corrections” panel—just check “Remove Chromatic Aberration” and “Enable Profile Corrections.”

Next, crop the image using the rule of thirds or centered framing, depending on the style of the headshot. A tightly framed crop around the face and shoulders is ideal for professional uses. Ensure there’s enough headroom and that the subject’s eyes are level and in focus. Correcting perspective and composition is the foundation for a high-quality headshot.

2. Basic Adjustments: Exposure and White Balance

Proper exposure and white balance are critical to maintaining natural skin tones and a professional look. If your image appears too dark or washed out, use the exposure slider in Lightroom or Photoshop’s Camera Raw to fine-tune brightness.

Adjust white balance by using the eyedropper tool and clicking on a neutral gray or white area in the photo. Avoid overly warm or cool tones unless it serves a stylistic purpose. Keeping tones neutral ensures the subject looks fresh and realistic. Balance the highlights, shadows, and contrast to give the photo more depth without losing detail in key areas like the face.

3. Enhance Skin Texture Using Brushes

One of the most important and delicate tasks in headshot editing is retouching the skin. Your goal should always be to enhance, not erase, the skin texture. Professional headshots need to look clean, but still real. Here's how to do it step-by-step using Photoshop and Lightroom brushes:

Step 1: Zoom In and Analyze the Skin

Before you do any editing, zoom into the image at 100% and analyze the skin. Identify:

Areas with uneven tone or blotchiness
Fine lines or wrinkles
Oily spots or excessive shine
Pores and texture that can be softened

Make note of what should be cleaned up versus what should be left alone. The goal is to enhance without making the subject look plastic or fake.

Step 2: Use Frequency Separation (Advanced Method)

For professional-level skin retouching, frequency separation is a non-destructive technique that separates the image into:

High frequency (texture like pores and fine lines)
Low frequency (tones and color gradients)

Here’s a quick guide to applying frequency separation:

Duplicate your image layer twice in Photoshop.
Name one layer “Low” and apply a Gaussian Blur (around 6–10 px depending on resolution).
Name the other “High” and apply Image > Apply Image to subtract the blur (using the “Low” layer).
Set the “High” layer to Linear Light blend mode.
Use the Healing Brush or Clone Stamp on the “Low” layer to even out blotchy tones.
Retouch texture on the “High” layer carefully.

This lets you smooth out skin tones without touching the actual texture, preserving a natural look.

Step 3: Lightroom Skin Smoothing Brush (Quick Method)

If you’re not ready for Photoshop, Lightroom also offers a great set of brush tools. Use the “Soften Skin” brush preset and adjust sliders as follows:

Clarity: -20 to -40 (softens texture)
Texture: -10 to -30 (smooths pores)
Sharpness: Slight increase if needed
Exposure/Highlights: Subtle adjustments

Paint over the face gently and use the brush in small strokes. Don’t apply it to eyes, lips, or hair—those areas should stay sharp. Adjust the feathering to blend smoothly.

Step 4: Remove Redness and Uneven Color

Use the HSL panel in Lightroom to reduce red or orange saturation on the skin:

Lower Reds and Oranges slightly to reduce blotchiness
Increase Luminance to brighten skin tones

Alternatively, use the Adjustment Brush with a slight desaturation and exposure tweak to manually correct problem areas.

Step 5: Add Subtle Contouring and Highlights

Want to subtly sculpt the face? Create a new brush or layer and:

Brighten under the eyes, forehead, and cheekbones
Darken under the jawline or sides of the face

This technique mimics beauty lighting and adds depth to the photo without the subject needing heavy makeup. Be extremely subtle—think in increments of 2–5% exposure.

Step 6: Retain Natural Lines and Personality

While it's tempting to remove every wrinkle or laugh line, remember: people hire and trust real humans. Unless your client requests it, avoid fully erasing:

Crow’s feet
Smile lines
Dimples

Instead, reduce their prominence while keeping their shape and character. This gives your headshot a polished yet authentic feel.

Step 7: Dodge & Burn for Precision

For more advanced users, dodge & burn offers micro-level control over skin tone and highlights. Create two curves adjustment layers:

One for dodging (brightening)
One for burning (darkening)

Use a soft white brush with 1–5% opacity and carefully paint over the areas that need balance. This technique can fix patchy lighting and add polish to facial features.

4. Fix Temporary Skin Blemishes

Pimples, redness, or temporary blemishes should be removed during headshot retouching, as they don’t reflect the subject’s everyday appearance. Use the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop or Healing Brush Tool in Lightroom to clean up these areas with a single click.

Avoid removing permanent features like moles or scars unless requested. Work non-destructively by editing on a new layer and zooming in to inspect your work. Always blend carefully so no edges or “cloning halos” are visible. Your edits should be invisible to the untrained eye while preserving the subject’s unique features.

5. Brighten Eyes

The eyes are the focal point of any great headshot. Brightening them adds life and sharpness to the image. In Lightroom:

Use the Adjustment Brush with increased exposure (+0.20 to +0.40)
Add a slight boost in contrast and clarity
Avoid touching the whites too much—over-whitening looks fake

In Photoshop, duplicate the eye area, set the layer blend mode to Soft Light, and gently paint over the iris with a soft brush to bring out its natural color. You can also enhance the catchlight by subtly brightening reflections in the eye.

6. Bring Out Detail in Eyelashes

Well-defined eyelashes draw attention to the eyes. Use the Dodge Tool in Photoshop at a very low exposure (5–10%) to lighten the lashes subtly and the Burn Tool to darken the outer edges.

If you're in Lightroom:

Zoom in on the eye area
Use the Adjustment Brush to increase sharpness and clarity on the lashes

If lashes are faint due to lighting, avoid trying to paint them in unless you're doing high-end beauty retouching. Keep enhancements natural and aligned with the original texture of the photo.

7. Fix Stray Hairs

Stray hairs across the face, forehead, or shoulders can be distracting. In Photoshop, use the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush to remove hairs against plain backgrounds. Zoom in and work slowly to maintain texture.

For complicated backgrounds, try using the Patch Tool or Content-Aware Fill, but always check for texture consistency. Don’t remove every hair—just the ones that distract from the subject’s face or make them look unkempt.

In Lightroom, use the Spot Removal Tool with a small brush size to target flyaways, but for detailed work, Photoshop is the better option.

8. Remove Other Distracting Elements

Look for small but distracting elements like dust on clothes, lint, background smudges, or uneven edges of a collar. In Photoshop, remove them with the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush. For the background, use a soft blur or gradient to keep the focus on the subject.

You can also simplify the background using Lightroom’s Masking tool—select the subject, invert the mask, and reduce texture or sharpness slightly. The cleaner your image looks, the more professional it will feel. Keep distractions out of the frame to allow your client’s personality to shine through.

9. Try Lightroom’s Built-in Preset

If you're editing multiple headshots, using Lightroom’s built-in or custom presets can save you time and ensure consistency. Presets are starting points—you still need to adjust each photo individually.

Try the “Portrait” or “Soft Skin” preset, then tweak:

Exposure
Shadows
Color temperature
Texture and clarity

You can also create your own preset after editing one image to perfection. Just click “Create Preset,” select which settings to include, and apply it to the rest of your batch. This is especially helpful when editing corporate team headshots or actor portfolios where consistency is key.

10. More: Final Touches and Export

Final touches can make or break a polished edit:

Sharpening: Use output sharpening for screen or print
Noise Reduction: Apply only when needed—avoid plastic skin
Color Calibration: Match tones across the batch
Export Settings: Save for web (72dpi) or print (300dpi) as needed

Always review your image at 100% before exporting. Send proofs to clients for approval if required. Save a PSD/TIFF for further edits, and export JPEGs for final use.

Headshot Photography Editing Tips FAQ

How can I edit my portraits to look better?
Start by adjusting exposure and white balance, then retouch skin, enhance eyes, and remove distractions while maintaining natural features.

How should you edit headshots?
Edit headshots to highlight clarity, authenticity, and polish. Avoid over-editing. Focus on subtle skin retouching, eye enhancement, and background cleanup.

Is it okay to edit headshots?
Yes editing is expected in professional headshots, as long as it enhances rather than misrepresents the subject.

How should headshots be edited?
Use a non-destructive, layer-based process: lens correction, exposure adjustment, skin retouching, and final sharpening. Keep edits subtle.

How do I make my headshot look professional?
Balance natural lighting, retouch skin gently, brighten eyes, and eliminate distractions. Use soft shadows and consistent color grading.

How do I edit a photo to make it look professional?
Pay attention to lighting, contrast, color tone, and clarity. Use tools like Lightroom or Photoshop and work non-destructively.

How to touch up a professional headshot?
Fix blemishes, soften skin texture, brighten the eyes, and remove stray hairs. Always keep the person’s look natural and confident.