Show HN: Professional Headshots Using AI

[blueapple30]

https://www.portraitmaker.ai

Hey HN! Launching portraitmaker.ai - pro headshots generated uniquely for your face.

Instead of using a generic model, I actually train a unique Flux LoRA model on your specific selfies. The idea is pretty simple:

1. Upload 10-35 selfies 2. Within 30 mins while the model finishes training 3. Call the trained model with a bunch of custom prompts for perfect headshots

The results are pretty WILD - check out some examples on the site.

Flux models have really changed the game. You can do this with almost anything - for example, cat portraits, dog portraits, etc.

Btw,

$20 gets you: - Custom model trained on your face using Flux LoRA - 40 headshots that actually look CRAZY GOOD

Traditional photographers charge you app the a*. $200-1000+ and require scheduling weeks out. Sometimes, they even charge you for custom outfits and photo retouching.

But most of us don't have that kind of money to splurge on a headshot.

[jmpavlec]

>You grant us a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, modify, distribute, and display any images you create or upload

This is a dealbreaker.

[lowlystatsguy → jmpavlec]

100%. This is not a headshot service if this is the case, this is a data acquisition service where you pay to have your data taken!

[12thhandyman → jmpavlec]

Wow, and the auto renew clause and right to change pricing without notice

[blueapple30 → 12thhandyman]

We actually don't have any subscriptions as of yet - everything is a one-time payment when you get to the checkout, so in its current state this does not even apply, so I removed that clause for now.

[blueapple30 → jmpavlec]

np. gone.

[codingdave]

All other privacy and licensing issues notwithstanding, an additional deal-killer for me is some of the details in the actual headshots scrolling in the carousel at the top of the page. There are some short haired folk who have dark lines down one or the other side of their face, which match up almost exactly with the hairlines of some of the longer-haired folk. Sure looks like AI artifacts to me.

[blueapple30 → codingdave]

The carousel images are all AI generated headshots, some of the example selfies on the page are real selfies.

Lighting and in which setting the original selfies were taken do make a difference, which is why there is a guide on which selfies are good and which ones to avoid so the model won’t hallucinate during the training.

[Enpece]

Apart from the licensing issues already mentioned by someone else: I don't know why anyone would use this service at that price. If you have the hardware and are tech savvy enough you can get similar if not better results using opensource tools and models. If you don't have the hardware you can still use paid services which should still be cheaper. And if you don't want to do anything with AI (which is the first thing you should think about when trying to accurately represent yourself to a future employer), you could still go to a local photo studio and get your picture taken by a professional at that price.

[blueapple30 → Enpece]

Maybe because there are millions of people that are not tech-savvy?

"you could still go to a local photo studio and get your picture taken by a professional"

- Please send me a list of local photographers in your area that charge $20 or less for professional headshots.

[maalber]

Do you currently employ any measures to evaluate how well the model(s) perform? If yes, how? If no, what are the challenges that keep you from doing so?

[vunderba]

Besides the licensing terms (which sound like they've been addressed) - there's a dozen of these already in existence - BetterPic, HeadshotPro, AI Portraits, Aragon, etc.

I would add a comparison table on your site to highlight what makes your different.

[ryvi]

The sample photos clearly give me AI vibes, maybe its better zoomed out

[blueapple30 → ryvi]

All of the photos are of real people (some are their actual selfies, some are their AI counterparts), that's why there aren't many of them on the landing page.