# How Do I Make A Perfectly Symmetrical Photo Of Myself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018 "2003-03-04T16:22:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/1 "2003-03-04T16:22:39Z")
I’m not un-symmetrical, as far as I can tell, but how would I go about doctoring up a photograph of myself in order to make me appear to have _perfect_ bilateral symmetry? I’m wondering if maybe there’s a software package out there that can make a mirror image of an existing jpeg, which you could then split in half and paste them together. Is there a cheap software product that can do this? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/2 "2003-03-04T16:27:19Z")
I think that if you have MS Paint you can simply do it by using the Flip/Rotate function. Copy the photo of yourself, paste it below the original, flip it horizontal, then clip it down the middle with the select function and move it overtop of the original. You can see an example by looking at this [rather obsessed fellow’s](http://www.bossdog.com/java-photo-lab/mona.html) page. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/3 "2003-03-04T16:43:26Z")
Thanks, **Sofa King**! I tried your suggestion but the result looks a little strange. I think I’m going to have to make sure I have my axis of symmetry aligned so that it’s perfectly vertical before I flip the image. I’ll try again until I get it right. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/4 "2003-03-04T16:46:11Z")
If you had something (Photoshop maybe) that would let you make the flipped overlay semi-transparent, you could line it up better before “dropping” it onto the original. That might help. ---
**Author:** ![DrLizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DrLizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLizardo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/5 "2003-03-04T16:47:25Z")
Surreal: I’ve done this with Photoshop, using similar functions as Sofa King describes. The key thing to remember is that it WILL look a little strange – most folks faces are a lot less “matched” left to right than you’d suspect. To minimize, make sure the original photo is as straight-on as possible, wear a symmetrical hairstyle (i.e. slicked straight back), wear symmetrical clothes and so forth… ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/6 "2003-03-04T16:59:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > I tried your suggestion but the result looks a little strange. I have experimented with this (using Paint Shop Pro) and I must say the result matched your username. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/7 "2003-03-04T17:14:43Z")
Hehe… And here I thought I would be the only person here to try this experiment. You guys are way ahead of me! ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/8 "2003-03-04T17:49:59Z")
Wow. That Lewinsky fan is an idiot. Doesn’t he realize that the images are different because she’s leaning over in the photo? Oh, and take a look at the “skinny” photo… what does her neck look like? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/9 "2003-03-04T18:30:42Z")
_The key thing to remember is that it WILL look a little strange_ [Here’s](http://www.raygirvan.co.uk/apoth/cosmic.gif) one I prepared earlier. One side of me looks so amazingly grim and impassive that I decided to PhotoShop it into a sort of magus. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/10 "2003-03-04T19:15:30Z")
I also found this- [http://www.lifesciences.napier.ac.uk/courses/modules/BI22201/L14.HTM](http://www.lifesciences.napier.ac.uk/courses/modules/BI22201/L14.HTM) “_Facial bilateral symmetry is also hypothesised to affect positive beauty judgements because symmetry is a certification of overall phenotypic quality and developmental health, which may be importantly influenced by parasites. Minute deviations from perfect symmetry are known as fluctuating asymmetries or FA’s since the directionality of the deviation is random. The importance of FA in directing human mate choice has only recently become apparent: Grammer and Thornhill (1994) demonstrated that both women and men found computer generated symmetrical faces in the opposite sex more attractive than faces with high FA. Thornhill et al (1995) found that women with more symmetrical sexual partners had a higher frequency of orgasms per copulation. Since orgasms reduce vaginal flowback this could be a physiological mechanism of controlling sperm competition to favour partners of high genetic quality._” Unfortunately, my right-mirrored and left-mirrored pics don’t match up very well, indicating that I do have some fluctuating asymmetries. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/11 "2003-03-04T20:53:02Z")
Don’t you also have to make sure that the shadows are consistent on both halves? That would seem to be the greatest difficulty… ---
**Author:** ![DrLizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DrLizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLizardo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/12 "2003-03-04T21:05:16Z")
Perhaps OT, but I used to (YEARS ago, circa 1993) have a program that would morph two people’s head-shots. Some scary things came outta that one. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/13 "2003-03-05T06:13:05Z")
Monica’s eyes are a little uneven in how high they are placed so when her head is tilted her eyes look even. ---
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/14 "2003-03-05T06:31:05Z")
For those without the money for Photoshop, [the gimp](http://www.gimp.org) provides a free alternative and will do everything you need to mirror your face nicely. Tutorials are also available there for basic gimp usage. For specific tutorials on the types of skills required for mirroring yourself, visit [worth1000](http://www.worth1000.com) and look in the learn/tutorials section. Though Photoshop-centric, the skills are transferrable. The tutorial at the bottom, “Merging Drew and Bouguereau”, has some useful info on face finagling, and the colorization one is also useful. For excellent examples of flipped faces, check out the [advanced galleries](http://www.worth1000.com/stories/contestdirectory.asp?all=1) and look for contests named “Partial Symmetry”. I’ve never done it, though, so don’t ask me for real help. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/15 "2003-03-05T07:29:37Z")
Did it before. Still looked butt ugly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-perfectly-symmetrical-photo-of-myself/159018/16 "2003-03-05T12:09:06Z")
Oh, and also, psychology has shown that one side of the face is percieved as slightly more attractive than the other. I’m not sure which side exactly, possibly it had something to do with your handedness as well.