Before and after photos: how to build a portfolio that works for you
In permanent makeup, photos are your business card: it is by looking at your work that someone decides whether to trust you with their face. But they are also the record of the treatment. Here is how to take them, organise them and use them well.
Always take the same photos
A comparison only works if the images are comparable. Use the same light, the same distance and the same framing, and photograph every stage:
- Before the treatment
- The drawn design
- Immediately after
- Once fully healed
- After the touch-up
Order is the real problem
After a few months your camera roll is a mix of clients, holidays and screenshots, and finding the "before" of a piece of work turns into a treasure hunt. Photos belong next to the treatment they document, not in among your personal pictures.
The client's permission
Taking a photo to document the treatment and publishing it on social media are two different things. Publishing needs explicit permission, and the client must be able to withdraw it. In Pigmatia, permission to use photos is recorded in the client's record and can be revoked, with the date.
A portfolio that sorts itself
In Pigmatia photos sort themselves by client, treatment and stage. The before and after comparison has an interactive slider to move in front of the client, and the portfolio can be filtered by area: eyebrows, lips, eyeliner, scalp micropigmentation.
From photos to social media
From the portfolio you can share a piece of work in a few taps. On devices that support Apple Intelligence, the caption and hashtags are suggested by AI directly on the device, without sending the photos to any server.
Frequently asked questions
Do clients' photos end up online?
No. They stay on your device and, if you turn it on, in your private iCloud or your own Dropbox. They are shared only when you decide.
Can I show the comparison to the client?
Yes. The before and after slider and the full-screen gallery are designed to be shown on iPhone or iPad during the consultation.
What happens if a client withdraws permission?
The withdrawal is recorded with its date in their record, so you know which photos you can no longer publish.