How to Remove a Double Chin in a Photo

When it comes to tech issues, we're used to frozen screens, complicated firmware updates and bricked batteries. But on a more human side, no one likes to feel self-conscious about his photos, especially in the age of photographic perpetuity enabled by social media. Before your double-chin headshot goes viral, nip (and tuck) it in the bud with a few tips, from the photo session to the editing process.

Sure, we might have smart refrigerators and app-powered electric scooters, but let's not rely on technology to solve every problem – especially when you might be able to easily prevent it to begin with.

Help your photo apps out by reducing the chance of the camera capturing a double-chin effect when you snap the photo. Silly as it may sound, sticking your neck out toward the lens like a turtle stretches the skin under the jaw, making for a more defined chin. Posing from a side angle rather than head-on can help, too, as can raising the light source to a higher position or shooting from above.

When preventive techniques fail or you're otherwise left with a double chin on your camera roll, don't lose hope. To remove a double chin, photo editors like Photoshop are your best bet.

Use your software's selection tool to outline the area around the lower jaw (double chin central), click "Cut" or "Copy," and make a new layer from your selection. Now use your editor's warp or perspective shift tool to push the area of the selection closest to the jawline upward – just a subtle push will do. Use a soft-edged eraser tool set to about 90 percent opacity to start slowly erasing the bottom part of the copy-pasted chin layer. You'll see the original chin start coming through, blending with the new, tightened-up chin. Erase just a little at a time until the effect is a naturally blended jawline.

If you're not quite savvy enough to use fully featured photo editing software to remove a double chin, apps are here for you.

Free iOS apps like Slim and Skinny allow you to simply upload your photo and use a face-thinning or chin-reducing feature to automatically edit the photo with one touch. For a little more manual control, pop open your browser and upload any photo to Fotor, which features an intuitive beauty editor – just adjust the "Weight Lost" slider to thin the entire face or use the "Reshape" tool to tuck the area around the jawline upward (depending on which tools you use, the free version may feature a watermark).

If you're willing to skip your coffee and shell out a little cash, sites such as RetouchMe – available as a website or an Android or iOS app – allow you to choose a template such as "less wrinkles," "remove pimples" or "remove double chin" and will edit the photo for you at a cost of about $0.99.

Of course, there's always another tech-free, cost-free option: Roll with the double chin photo and give it the love it deserves, because we're all just human.