Do You Really Need High-Res Images? A Guide to Getting The Right Deliverables
Do You Actually Need Hi-Res Headshots?
One of the most common questions that comes up in both individual and company headshot sessions is whether the deliverables include hi-res images. And rightfully so.
For many (including myself before I picked up a camera), “hi-res” translates to getting images that look crisp, sharp, and ultimately high quality. And isn’t that the point of professional headshots? To present something elevated.
But, the term “high resolution” doesn’t actually match up 1:1 with high quality, and usually reflects the opposite file type you need.
What Does “Hi-Res” Actually Mean?
Plainly put, "high-resolution" means the image contains a lot of pixels. And in 2025, cameras are capable of delivering an insane amount of pixels, but it is really only critical for print:
Billboards
Trade show signage
Magazine covers
Posters or banners
If that is the use case, a professional camera will have you covered. But until then, hi-res isn’t just unnecessary—and it can be counterproductive.
Why Defaulting to Hi-Res Is a Problem
For starters, hi-res files come with larger file sizes. So you either have to rely on your web developers to reformat the images, or you are left with slower load times on websites, emails, etc. Sometimes, images don’t load at all due to poor internet or cell service.
Taking it a step further, when you slow down your website, that causes an increase in bounce rate (people leaving the site), which then causes the algorithm to believe your site doesn’t deserve attention. In turn, this starts to hurt your rankings, all because of slower load times affecting the website functionality.
What You Likely Need Are Web-Optimized Files
To best understand what kind of files you need, it helps to think about where the images are actually going to be displayed. The vast majority of business headshots are used digitally—on websites, LinkedIn, email signatures, internal profiles—not printed at life-size. Consider the screens your headshot will likely show up on:
Most laptops are between 13–16”
Phones now account for a huge portion of web traffic
Even large monitors (like the iMac) top out at 27–30”
Of course there are people with ultra-wide 40” setups, but if someone’s blowing your face up to 20 inches wide, they know exactly what they’re looking at—and that they’re the outlier. The point being, this instance should not impact your decision for what you need, because in a sense, that viewer choosing to blow up your headshot to that size is doing so wrecklessly, and they know it.
So in these cases, what you truly need are sharp, fast-loading, and properly cropped files that look great across all screens in the varying mediums:
JPG or PNG files around 2500 pixels wide for desktop
Mobile versions maxing out at 720px, ideally under 1MB
Crops formatted for various platforms - web, email, social, etc.
These aren’t just smaller files—they’re files built to retain the impact you paid for in the first place.
What If You Might Print It Later?
No problem.
Any reputable photographer will shoot in high resolution by default and can deliver large-format files if you need them. But with an understanding of what typically calls for hi-res, it becomes clear why you might not need them, and if you do, it becomes clear why these versions cost more.
High-resolution implies:
Commercial use — where the image will be used in advertising, press, or large-scale media and scrutinized up close.
More intensive retouching — because the higher the resolution, the more your eye picks up. If your headshot ends up on a 20"x25" print or a jumbotron behind a keynote speaker, the tiniest details matter. A stray hair, uneven skin, or a wrinkled collar that’s invisible on LinkedIn can become a glaring distraction at scale. These things don’t just need to be corrected—they need to be corrected cleanly, without compromising the integrity of the image. That kind of retouching is its own product.
So of course, you can absolutely get a hi-res version. Just know that it’s not simply a bigger export setting. It’s a different deliverable with different processing needs.
What Actually Makes a Headshot Look “Professional”
With a clear understanding that high resolution is not necessarily the same as high quality, it begs the question what exactly does make something look premium?
I still remember the photographer who told me “getting that professional look isn’t really about the camera, it’s more about the lighting”. I remember that response so vividly because for some reason I didn’t want to believe it. In hindsight, likely because I didn’t understand, or it felt more elusive.
Now, it makes perfect sense - it’s that classic idea that you can’t polish poop. When using a high resolution camera on something in poor lighting, it will simply result in a very detailed shot of something that looks bad. Recall the concept above if you dare.
That high resolution literally makes the image more offensive because in the end, all the added pixels do is amplify our eye’s ability to see the details that are being subjected to poor lighting. On the other hand, when you use a high resolution camera paired with great lighting, you are in a position to create a stunning image, for digital or print.
But great lighting and high resolution cameras aren’t the only requirements for premium imagery!
Remember, the high resolution camera is just capturing what is there, in great detail - far greater than the human eye. So great lighting is a great start. What’s missing in that equation is the retouching.
Because looking at a a headshot frozen in time, in high resolution, your eye is going to notice details that maybe it wouldn’t in the real world.
Consider the real world - when you look at someones face, your eye also picks up plenty of things in the periphery. Not just the rest of their body, their clothing, etc., but the world around them. In addition, the real world works more like a video than a still image, and when you freeze frame a headshot, you are zooming in on a face, in high res, and often removing any kind of peripheral info like clothing or a room - and instead replacing it with a solid background. With headshots, retouching is as much a part of the art as the lighting. A great camera capturing a shot with great lighting can be ruined by bad exposure, poor color grading, over-retouching, or just a failure to retouch properly. Personally, I consider retouching to be a flop if you notice it, unless of course you’re a retoucher noticing a job well done.
When discussing retouching and high resolution, I like the analogy of great vocal performers recording their album.
In the studio, engineers use microphones exceeding $10K to capture performances in acoustically treated rooms. Essentially, the audio engineers wants a pristine sample to work with, where the room echo is neutralized, and the microphone can capture rich detail of the voice. That’s like the photographer using an expensive camera in great lighting to capture a pristine sample to work with. After that, the audio engineer processes that vocal with countless signal processors to tame dynamic range, remove unnecessary frequencies, control pitch, and more. Likewise, the photographer will process the image with various software to enhance color, balance exposures, and remove blemishes / other distractions that -thanks to our high resolution- need to be tamed. At the same time, because of the high resolution, when we enhance the beauty within that image, it absolutely pops.
In Short
Hi-resolution is often overkill - the “high quality” you are looking for comes from the lighting and details of the image.
For most cases, the ideal deliverables are images optimized for screen use in file size and crop format.
High-resolution is important for large-scale use — and the reason you can expect an added cost is that it implies commercial value and demands more detailed retouching."
So when gathering quotes, the best way to ensure you get exactly what you need is to share how the images will be used, and the photographer can guide you from there.
