How to Whiten Teeth Using Photoshop

Whether you photograph weddings, portraits, or something else, a lot of the people you'll shoot will benefit from having their teeth whitened a bit. This great tutorial will show you how to easily and convincingly do that using Photoshop.

Coming to you from Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect, this helpful video will show you how to naturally whiten someone's teeth using Photoshop. Most people don't have perfectly white teeth, and it's a nice touch to whiten them up in post-processing. As Dinda shows, using the Hue/Saturation adjustment and cranking the hue all the way over makes it very easy to visualize where you're applying the adjustment. Just be sure not to go overboard with the brightness, as this can make the edit look very artificial. Also, when you're selecting the natural color of the teeth, be sure to change the sample size from point sample to something like 5 by 5 or 9 by 9 average. This ensures that if you click a hot pixel or blemish that you don't get the wrong color. It's a quick and effective technique to consistently give teeth a naturally white look. Check out the video above for the full rundown on the technique! 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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6 Comments

Isn’t that the same as removing fat, wrinkles, etc., faking the appearance? Be proud of your yellow teeth! 🙃

Doesn't lightroom have the Teeth Whitening Brush that does the job?

Use a toothbrush.

Thanks, looks like a good technique to try.

Excellent Unmesh. Many thanks.

Darn it, I've been using Crest Strips all this time.