Should You Try a Black and White Profile Photo?

Should you make your headshot black and white (B&W) for LinkedIn? It’s really a matter of preference. You should know what you are trying to say by having a B&W photo. In my opinion, a B&W photo has a more serious feel to it. It may also feel a bit edgier or arty. LinkedIn expert Christine Hueber advises us to “Think of how they will resonate and are compelling for your Ideal Client.”

I did a quick survey of 100 of my LinkedIn connections and found that 10 people had Black and White profile pics. Of course 8 of those were fellow photographers. Lending some credence to my “arty” assumption above.

Joanne Funch, founder of LinkedIn for Business, cautions to make sure the black and white fits your business. “I think it depends on what you do and who your audience truly is. In the end, the photo must be a good representation of how you would show up to do business - color or not. I find color to be more inviting and black and white a little flat, but if I were in a business that lends itself to that - it might be great.”

There really isn’t an apparent advantage or disadvantage in going black and white according to a Photofeeler survey. From their site: “As for black and white photos, we couldn’t come up with any statistically-significant effect— positive or negative. We were really expecting to see something like a slight rise in Influence and slight fall in Likability. But alas, there is no significant difference, after all.” 

How to Make Your Profile Photo Black and White

If you are still game, here are some tips for making your photo B&W. Since most cameras these days don’t photograph in B&W you have to convert the color photo. Don’t just hit the B&W conversion button or desaturate (remove) the color. I like to see a little more contrast in a B&W photo. Don’t make the whites to go pure white or even the darks to jet black. 

You don’t have to be a photoshop guru to adjust your photo. You can do it right on LinkedIn. Just click on your profile photo. A handy edit tool pops up. (See image above.) To make it black and white do the following: 

• Click on your Profile Photo to bring up the edit box.
• Click the adjust icon. 
• Click on the Saturation button and slide it all the way to the left. This makes the photo B&W.
• Click the back arrow. 
• Click on the contrast button and slide it to the right around 70. (This can vary depending on the photo.)
• Click the back arrow again. 
• Click on the brightness button and brighten it up a little. 

Play around with the buttons to get it dialed in. Save it and you are good to go. Make sure you keep a copy of your original color photo around. You may want to go back to it. Try your Profile Photo in black and white for a while and see what feedback you get. At least people may take another look at your profile with the new photo. 

Black and white won’t fix a bad profile photo. You will want it to be up-to-date, professional looking and cropped properly. Give it a try. Let me know your thoughts and results. And if you need a new headshot, keep us in mind at SRK Headshot Day.