Discover how to whiten teeth in Adobe Photoshop.

See how you can use saturation adjustment layers for teeth whitening in various forms of professional photography.

A side by side comparison of unwhitened teeth and whitened teeth

Retouching yellow teeth in your photo editing.

Make a good first impression with a professional headshot or pop the brightness of an athlete’s smile in commercial photography by learning how to adjust for white teeth in Photoshop — a skill that can help you combat years of subjects’ teeth-staining habits. Learn how to tweak a new Hue/Saturation layer to bring lightness to teeth and other objects to add impact to your photos.

Getting started with the Lasso tool and a new adjustment layer.

step

Create a new adjustment layer over the original image so your work is a flexible adjustment. Make sure to check the Layers panel to ensure you’re working on the correct new layer.

step

Using the Lasso tool, make a selection that goes along the edges of the teeth. If you capture some of the lips or gums, that is OK.

step

In the adjustments drop-down menu, select the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Photoshop will automatically convert your selection into a layer mask.

step

In the Properties panel of your Hue/Saturation layer, click the options bar labelled Master and select Yellows, as that is all you’ll want to adjust to whiten teeth.

step

Decrease the Yellows in your selection by moving the saturation slider to the left.

step

If you notice a harsh edge to your selection, fix it in the Properties panel by selecting Masks. In the Masks panel, increase the feather slider to give your selection a soft edge.

Using this same method, you can edit pet photography to brighten a dog’s eyes against its darker fur. Simply select the eyes and then pull out the dark colour to amplify the highlights.

Whitening teeth on a mobile device
Uploaded headshot of man with whitened teeth

Watch Photoshop tutorials on teeth whitening.

Get started with editing tutorials on teeth whitening and build your skills with these editing photography tips.

 

 

 

 

 

By growing your knowledge with those tutorials, you’ll be ready to move on to more advanced tasks. See how you can use a brush tool and the Levels adjustments to brighten dark photos or learn more about using adjustment layers to pop different colours in photos — all foundational skills you can build upon by watching simple teeth-whitening tutorials.

Do more with Adobe Photoshop.

Create beautiful images with Photoshop brushesContent-Aware FillPhoto effectsNeural FilterSky replacement and the many tools photographers rely on.

Explore the Photoshop family of apps.

You might also be interested in…

Make complex selections in Photoshop.

Make a complex selection.

Get your glow on with this simple technique.

Retouch a photo in Photoshop.

Retouch a photo.

Brush out your photos rough spots for cleaner, clearer images.

Original photo of flowers next to enhanced photo of flowers.

How to enhance photos.
Balance the contrast, shadow, temperature and clarity of your photos with these photo enhancing techniques.

Colourised red bike in a black and white photo of a cobblestone road.

Learn how to colourise black-and-white photos.

Colourising photos can bring the past to life. Explore how to get started in this introduction.

Find the Creative Cloud plan that’s right for you.

Photography (20 GB)

US$10.74/mo

Lightroom on desktop and mobile, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop on desktop and iPad. Learn more


Photography (20 GB)

Lightroom on desktop and mobile, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop on desktop and iPad. Learn more

US$10.74/mo

Adobe Photoshop Single App

US$24.71/mo

Get Photoshop on desktop and iPad as part of Creative Cloud. Learn more


Adobe Photoshop Single App

Get Photoshop on desktop and iPad as part of Creative Cloud. Learn more

US$24.71/mo

All Apps

US$62.34/mo

Get Photoshop on desktop and iPad, plus the entire collection of creative apps.  Learn more


All Apps

Get Photoshop on desktop and iPad, plus the entire collection of creative apps.  Learn more

US$62.34/mo

Students and teachers

US$21.49/mo.

Save over 60% on the entire collection of Creative Cloud apps. Learn more


Students and teachers

Save over 60% on the entire collection of Creative Cloud apps. Learn more

US$21.49/mo

Purchase by phone: 0800 007031