Want to add shine to hair in photo for truly stunning portraits? It’s a detail that often makes all the difference. Capturing the perfect portrait goes beyond just the subject’s beauty; the secret is in the nuances. Elements like facial expressions, sharp focus on the eyes, and even the subtle gleam of hair can transform an image. Today, we’re diving into hair shine, a frequently neglected aspect. While many focus on hairstyle, the lack of shine can result in a lackluster portrait, often being the missing element we sense. Fortunately, Evoto AI offers a solution, and this guide will show you how to add shine to hair in a photo using this powerful tool.
Why Add Shine to Hair Matters in Portrait Photography?
At first glance, people won’t pay too much attention to hair and its shine, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Shiny hair is a great way to showcase health and beauty, and with good reason.
Portrait photography is about highlighting the positives in your subject, such as a lovely smile, beautiful eyes, and healthy hair. These aspects add dimension and are crucial factors that can determine the quality of the portrait.
Putting good light on the hair helps highlight its health, frame the face, and, most importantly, separate the subject from the background. It also helps you get a more vibrant and polished portrait. This is the crucial difference between a good portrait and a jaw-dropping one.
Common Challenges in Achieving Hair Shine in Photos
Adding shine to hair can sometimes be tricky, so let’s go over some of the common challenges many photographers face.
Studio Lighting Is Ideal for Adding Shine to Hair
Right off the bat, many will say that getting that shine during shooting is ideal, and that’s true. The problem is that it’s not always a straightforward process, especially if you’re shooting in conditions that you don’t control.
Shooting in a controlled environment like a studio is ideal. You can control the light and get that perfect shine. The best part is that you can try and tweak the settings and lighting, meaning you have the flexibility.

Outdoor Shooting Isn’t Always Ideal for Adding Shine to Hair
Outside of the studio, things are a bit different, and you won’t always have the ability to get it right, and it won’t always be your fault. Every hair is different, so you won’t get the same effect with every model you shoot. Some people have dry hair, which makes it even more difficult, especially if you want to add shine to dull hair.
Dealing with Frizz, Dryness, and Dullness
Frizzy or dry hair scatters light unevenly, reducing shine. Oily hair creates harsh reflections, while dull strands absorb light. These issues make it difficult to create a balanced, glossy look.
Hair Color Greatly Affects the Amount of Shine You Get
Also, color can play a crucial role because not every color type will reflect light the same way, so some will come out looking duller than others in the same conditions. This is why it’s important to know how to add shine to colored hair and get it done right to look natural.
How to Add Shine to Hair in Photoshop
For most photographers, the best software to add shine to hair in photos is Photoshop, so let’s discuss the process real quick. Before you start, it’s preferable to use RAW formats because there’s a lot more information stored than JPEG.

1.Adjust the Curves
Once you load your photo in Photoshop, click on the “Adjustment Layer” icon and select “Curves”. Bump up the highlights enough to see a difference, and don’t worry if the image looks overexposed. Hit Ctrl+I on a Windows or Control+I on a Mac, which will switch to the masking option.

2.Use the Brush to Paint Over the Areas You Want to Highlight
Select the brush tool and make sure the selected color is white. Adjust the size of the brush and choose a lower hardness percentage. Start painting over the hair or dab on the areas where you want the shine to pop.
3.Use the Curves to Fine-Tune the Hair Shine
Once you’re done with masking, you can go back to the curve slider and fine-tune the highlights. This time, you’ll see that only the masked parts will change, in this case, the parts of the hair that you want to add shine to.
Easy Way to Naturally Enhance Hair Shine in Photos With Evoto AI
In many ways, Evoto AI is very similar to Photoshop, at least in terms of capabilities. The main difference that favors Evoto is that it allows you to rely on AI to make improvements. In this case, it offers an easy way to add shine to hair in photos. Let’s discuss how to make hair shiny in photos using this tool.
Evoto AI Photo Editor – Faster Edits, Finer Control

1.Navigate to the Hair Section Under Portrait Retouching
Like with Photoshop, the process starts with importing your photo. On the right sidebar, select “Portrait Retouching” or tap R on your keyboard. This will bring up the menu with multiple options, and you’ll need to navigate to “Hair.”
2.Move the Hair Shine Slider to Get the Desired Look
This tool has multiple settings for hair, and the one we’re interested in is the Evoto AI Hair Shine Enhancement. Move the slider left and right until you get the desired look, and you’re good to go.
The great thing about this feature in Evoto AI is that you can get healthy-looking hair in seconds. Depending on the photo you’re using, you may get some unnatural-looking shine, which you can tone down with the slider.
Additional Hair-Related Tools to Enhance Your Photos With Evoto AI
With the hair shine aside, the Evoto AI photo editor hair section offers more than just a slider to bump up hair shine. You can add some smoothness, which, combined with the shine, can give you a silky-like hair on your subjects.
In addition to that, the stray hair removal tool comes in handy because you let the tool do it for you, rather than do it yourself manually. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you can rely on Evoto AI’s capabilities to provide you with photo enhancement for blurry hair. In both situations, it can help you get the texture just right.
Evoto AI Photo Editor – Faster Edits, Finer Control
Comparing Evoto AI vs. Photoshop for Hair Shine
Looking at both examples, it becomes clear that both Evoto AI and Photoshop can add shine to dry hair on a subject. That said, there are differences, and both tools do an excellent job in their own way.
Photoshop Is the Preferred Choice Among Photographers
Photoshop is often the preferred choice among seasoned photographers because of its ability to fine-tune edits. The steps we outlined are just one way to do it, and regardless of which one you choose, the flexibility is what makes it so popular. Unfortunately, this also has some negative sides.
Manually adding shine to a subject’s hair means you’ll need to know how to do it. Photoshop isn’t an overly complicated tool, but some beginner photographers struggle with it. Knowing how to edit hair to look shiny in pictures can be an overwhelming experience, due to the multiple tools and options.
If you’ve ever tried to add shine to curly hair, you’ll know that the manual method takes time and patience. This is where Evoto AI can help.
Evoto AI Helps Simplify the Process
It’s a photo hair shine enhancement tool designed for beginner photographers. Its core philosophy is to be easy to use, so you won’t need any photo editing skills to enhance hair shine in photo, which is why it’s becoming an attractive option.
With novice users aside, it can also be a powerful tool for batch editing. Wedding photographers, for example, can utilize the portrait retouching hair feature to add shine to subjects’ hair much faster than before.
Tips for More Natural-looking Hair Shine in Photos
When it comes to adding hair shine in photos, you’d want to get the effect during shooting because you’re going for the most natural look. Position the light at an angle that will help you get the shiny and reflective hair light.
Getting hair shine during shooting isn’t always possible, which is where post-processing comes into play. Here are a few tips for adding shine to hair in photo editing that you should consider.
Evoto AI’s feature does a good job at analyzing the image, making sure that even if you push the slider all the way to the right, the hair shine remains normal. It adds this in a subtle way, so the chances of engine up with some unrealistic portrait.

Photoshop, on the other hand, can be tricky, and you’ll need to be mindful of the settings. Getting too carried away will result in a very unnatural hair shine, which will ruin the photo. Many think that many hair types are easier to work on, but that’s not always the case. You can easily add shine to gray hair, but it may not look as natural as it should
Both tools can help you smooth the hair, which is a good thing. That said, going too smoothly can be a problem because it will ruin the texture. Keeping the smoothness to a minimum is good because you want to get a silky look, but not an artificial one.
Final Words
Don’t underestimate the impact of adding hair shine to your portraits; it’s a fantastic way to enhance your photography.While powerful, traditional tools like Photoshop might not suit every user.This is where Evoto AI portrait editing hair features become valuable.
Evoto AI offers a compelling alternative with its dedicated hair editing features. Many consider it the top AI photo editor for achieving natural hair shine. Its user-friendly design caters to both beginners and experienced professionals.
It’s one of those tools that you need to try to believe actually works well, so download it, give it a try, and see for yourself how well it works.
FAQs about Hair Shine in Photo Editing
1.What are the key differences between adding shine in Photoshop versus using Evoto AI?
Photoshop is a professional tool with a proven background and results. It does an excellent job, but requires extensive knowledge to get the most out of it. Evoto AI, on the other hand, is designed to do the heavy lifting for you and give you the perfect result almost instantly. In addition to that, it can help you improve hair texture in photo without too much effort from you.
2.How does AI-based hair shine enhancement compare to manual techniques?
AI-based tools for adding hair shine work by analyzing the image, identifying the hair, and manipulating the photo to bring out the “lost” shine.
3.Can Evoto AI add shine to different hair types, like curly or textured hair?
Yes, Evoto AI’s model works by analyzing the image and isolating the hair for editing. This means it can add shine to curly hair, textured hair, or any other kind that your subject may have. You can think of it as your go-to AI photo editor hair shine tool for all kinds of portraits.
4.Can I selectively add shine to only specific areas of the hair (e.g., highlights or crown) using Evoto AI?
Even though Evoto AI is designed to make the process easier for beginners, professionals can utilize the manual tools to improve their shots. Like Photoshop, this tool has a masking feature, allowing you to use a brush to select a certain part of the image for editing.
5.How can I avoid overdoing hair shine in post-processing?
Subtle is key when it comes to adding shine to hair, and you’ll need to be mindful of this. Add enough shine to make it pop, but not too much to make it look artificial.