LinkedIn profile photo checker
Drop in your profile photo to check its size, lighting, sharpness, background and colour against clear, published rules, then crop it to a square profile photo or a 3:4 CV photo and download it. It is free, needs no account, and your photo never leaves your browser.
What we check, and the exact rules
Every result comes from measuring the pixels of your crop. The limits below are rules of thumb we tuned on real phone selfies, not a verdict on how you look, so a warning is a prompt to take a second look rather than a reason to give up on a photo you like.
| Check | How it is measured | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | The pixel size of your crop, before it is resized. | Shortest side at least 400 px, LinkedIn's recommended profile photo size. |
| File size | The size of the file you chose. | Up to 8 MB, the largest profile photo LinkedIn accepts. |
| Brightness | Average brightness of every pixel in the crop, on a 0 to 255 scale. | Good between 85 and 200; a fail below 55 or above 225. |
| Lost detail | Share of pixels that are pure black or pure white, where no detail survives. | Flagged above 8%, a fail above 20%. |
| Contrast | How much brightness varies across the crop. | Flagged as flat below 30. |
| Sharpness | Variance of the Laplacian, a standard blur measure, on a copy scaled to 512 px. | Flagged below 100, a fail below 40. |
| Background | Share of strong edges in the area above and beside your head (top 18%, outer 16% on each side). | Flagged above 12%, a fail above 22%. |
| Colour cast | Gap between the average red, green and blue values. | Flagged above 28. |
| Face framing | Your browser's built-in face detection, where available. Otherwise you check it by eye with the circle preview. | Face width between 30% and 75% of the crop, roughly centred, eyes in the upper part. |
What this tool does not do
- It does not judge expression, clothing, or whether the photo still looks like you.
- It does not edit light, colour or background. It only crops and resizes.
- It does not check official passport or visa photo rules, which differ by country.
- Face framing is automatic only in browsers with built-in face detection.
- HEIC photos from iPhones need to be exported as JPG first.
Questions
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The checker runs entirely in your browser: your photo is read from your device, measured and cropped locally, and never sent to FaceShot or anyone else. Closing the tab discards it.
What size should a LinkedIn profile photo be?
LinkedIn recommends 400 × 400 pixels and accepts files up to 8 MB. This tool exports an 800 × 800 pixel JPG when your photo is large enough, which stays sharp on high-resolution screens, and never enlarges a photo beyond its real pixels.
Does the checker tell me whether I look professional?
No. It measures technical things a computer can measure reliably: size, light, sharpness, background clutter and colour. Expression, clothing and whether the photo looks like you today are judgement calls, so it leaves those to you.
Why does face framing say "check by eye"?
Automatic framing uses the browser's built-in face detection, which only some browsers offer. Where it is missing, the tool says so instead of guessing, and the circle preview with its eye-line guide lets you frame the photo yourself.
Can the tool fix a bad photo?
It can crop, centre and resize a photo, but it cannot fix poor light, blur or a messy background. If those are the problem, FaceShot creates a new studio-style headshot from a casual selfie in about 60 seconds. New accounts get 4 free credits and no card is needed.
No photo worth checking yet?
Skip booking a $200 photographer. Upload a selfie and FaceShot creates a studio-style headshot in about 60 seconds, sized for LinkedIn and CVs. Free to try, no card needed.
More free help: profile templates and checklists, LinkedIn photo guide and the headshot cost calculator.