SaaS & Software·Jul 21, 2026

Show HN: Turn casual photos into professional headshots with AI

A while back I needed an ID photo for something urgent. The only way to get one was to find a photo studio, book a time, and wait around for it to be printed, and just one set cost about $13 (converted from my local currency). With how far AI has come, I felt like this should be easier and cheaper by now. So, I built Portraify. It turns 1–3 casual photos into professional headshots, and also does US passport photos and 1-inch / 2-inch ID photos. The thing I cared most about was likeness. A headshot or an ID photo is only useful if it actually looks like you, otherwise there's no point. So the AI is tuned to reproduce the real you, no beautifying, no de-aging. It also checks your input photos before generating (lighting, sharpness, face visibility), so you don't waste a generation on a photo that was never going to work. I know people care a lot about uploading their face to some random AI tool, so to be clear: input photos are processed in memory and discarded after generation. They're never persisted or used for training. Generated portraits are stored so you can re-download them. One thing to know before you try: it needs a signup (no card) and you get 3 free generations. Let me know if there's anything that could be improved, or anything that doesn't work well in real-world use. Happy to answer any questions.

Hacker News1 min readSingle source
Show HN: Turn casual photos into professional headshots with AI
Image · Hacker News
The gist
5-point summary · 1 min

A while back I needed an ID photo for something urgent. The only way to get one was to find a photo studio, book a time, and wait around for it to be printed, and just one set cost about $13 (converted from my local currency). With how far AI has come, I felt like this should be easier and cheaper by now. So, I built Portraify. It turns 1–3 casual photos into professional headshots, and also does US passport photos and 1-inch / 2-inch ID photos. The thing I cared most about was likeness. A headshot or an ID photo is only useful if it actually looks like you, otherwise there's no point. So the AI is tuned to reproduce the real you, no beautifying, no de-aging. It also checks your input photos before generating (lighting, sharpness, face visibility), so you don't waste a generation on a photo that was never going to work. I know people care a lot about uploading their face to some random AI tool, so to be clear: input photos are processed in memory and discarded after generation. They're never persisted or used for training. Generated portraits are stored so you can re-download them. One thing to know before you try: it needs a signup (no card) and you get 3 free generations. Let me know if there's anything that could be improved, or anything that doesn't work well in real-world use. Happy to answer any questions.

  • The only way to get one was to find a photo studio, book a time, and wait around for it to be printed, and just one set cost about $13 (converted from my local currency).
  • It turns 1–3 casual photos into professional headshots, and also does US passport photos and 1-inch / 2-inch ID photos.
  • A headshot or an ID photo is only useful if it actually looks like you, otherwise there's no point.
  • It also checks your input photos before generating (lighting, sharpness, face visibility), so you don't waste a generation on a photo that was never going to work.
  • I know people care a lot about uploading their face to some random AI tool, so to be clear: input photos are processed in memory and discarded after generation.
$13

A while back I needed an ID photo for something urgent. The only way to get one was to find a photo studio, book a time, and wait around for it to be printed, and just one set cost about $13 (converted from my local currency). With how far AI has come, I felt like this should be easier and cheaper by now. So, I built Portraify. It turns 1–3 casual photos into professional headshots, and also does US passport photos and 1-inch / 2-inch ID photos. The thing I cared most about was likeness. A headshot or an ID photo is only useful if it actually looks like you, otherwise there's no point. So the AI is tuned to reproduce the real you, no beautifying, no de-aging. It also checks your input photos before generating (lighting, sharpness, face visibility), so you don't waste a generation on a photo that was never going to work. I know people care a lot about uploading their face to some random AI tool, so to be clear: input photos are processed in memory and discarded after generation. They're never persisted or used for training. Generated portraits are stored so you can re-download them. One thing to know before you try: it needs a signup (no card) and you get 3 free generations. Let me know if there's anything that could be improved, or anything that doesn't work well in real-world use. Happy to answer any questions.

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