A LinkedIn headshot that holds up at thumbnail size

Your head and shoulders filling most of the frame, soft front lighting, a clean uncluttered background, clothing that matches your industry, and an expression that looks approachable. Sharp focus on the eyes matters more than almost anything else.

LinkedIn accepts from 400 × 400 pixels upwards, and 800 × 800 is a good target - comfortably above the minimum so the copy LinkedIn re-compresses still looks sharp. The shape matters more than the size: LinkedIn crops your photo to a circle, so anything near the corners is discarded. Our free headshot resizer draws that circle over the frame while you position the photo, so you can see what will be cut before you upload.

A natural, closed-mouth smile generally performs best - it reads as approachable without looking staged. If your field skews formal, the confident-neutral option is a safe alternative. Generate both and compare.

Stand facing a window so the light lands on your face rather than behind you, hold the camera at eye level about an arm’s length away, and take one straight-on frame plus one with your shoulders turned slightly. That is the entire brief. Backdrop, wardrobe and studio lighting are added afterwards, so the room you happen to be standing in does not matter.

LinkedIn asks that your profile photo be a likeness of you, and likeness is precisely what this pipeline enforces - anything that stops looking like you is rejected before it reaches you. Some people also note in their profile that the photo is AI-generated; the embedded content credentials record it either way.

One is enough to run a shoot, but three gives the model the angle variety it needs to keep you recognisable at profile size. Three is also the ceiling. If every selfie you own is from the same angle, take one more before you start - it is thirty seconds well spent.

Two to five minutes is the target, because every image in your set renders at the same time rather than one after another. In practice you can start a shoot, answer an email, and be replacing your profile photo before the tab goes stale.

Likeness is the only thing we grade, and on LinkedIn it counts twice - a photo your connections do not recognise is worse than no photo at all. Every render is compared against your uploads, anything that drifts is deleted and refunded before you see it, and a whole shoot that misses is re-run free on a different engine.

Rejected images are removed and their credits restored without you asking. If the whole set scores low you qualify for a free re-shoot, which usually means trying a different backdrop rather than different selfies. Eligible purchase refunds follow the Refund Policy.

No. Your selfies produce your LinkedIn headshot and nothing else - no training, no fine-tuning, no evaluation - and every provider in the chain is contractually held to the same restriction. They are erased after 30 days, or the moment you press delete.

A strong result reads as ordinary studio photography, which is already most of what is on LinkedIn. We are open about it regardless: every delivered file carries embedded content credentials identifying it as AI-generated.

LinkedIn Headshots draws between 6 and 15 credits per run, depending on the model and length chosen in the form.

Generated output from LinkedIn Headshots can contain visual, audio, or factual errors. Review each result before publishing, and upload only material you are authorized to use. Where the form accepts a reference image, supported files are JPEG, PNG, WebP up to 5 MB each.

An upload is stored against your own account, not pooled with other people's. Deleting the account removes it: the control is in Settings under Security, the request is confirmed by email, and the erasure removes the stored objects it owns. How long anything else is kept, and which processors handle it, is stated in the privacy policy.

Every paid plan includes a commercial licence for what LinkedIn Headshots makes; the free tier is for personal use.

LinkedIn Headshots: Get a LinkedIn headshot that still reads at thumbnail size. Upload a few selfies, pick a backdrop and outfit, and download the circle crop ready to post. Related options are Create AI Headshots: Create AI headshots from a few selfies. Upload, pick a backdrop and an outfit, then download an auto-ranked shortlist of studio portraits in up to 4K, Professional Headshots: Professional headshots without a photographer. Upload a few selfies, choose a backdrop and outfit, download studio-quality portraits from $19, Headshot Backgrounds: Choose a headshot background from studio, office, outdoor and brand-colour options, or upload your own backdrop without re-shooting, Realtor Headshots: Realtor headshots for listings, yard signs and brokerage sites. Approachable, current real estate agent photos - for you or your whole office, Free AI Headshot Generator: Try our free AI headshot generator. Upload one selfie and get a professional headshot at no cost - no credit card, no subscription, no watermark, and Resume Photo: Create a professional resume photo or CV photo from a few selfies. Correct framing, neutral background, and the right size for Europe and Asia. Choose by the required input, delivered output, controls, limits, current availability, and credit cost; the related-tools section links each canonical page.