How to change the facial expression of a photo

Oh no! One of the subjects portrayed in the group photo you took the day before yesterday did not smile at the time of the "cheese", thus ruining an otherwise perfect shot. Are you wondering if it is possible to remedy the situation by resorting to some technological "expedient"? The answer is yes. Even if I don't promise you miracles, you can at least try to save the savable using free online services and photo editing programs.

If you dedicate a few minutes of your precious free time to me, I will show you in detail in the next paragraphs how to change the facial expression of a photo using all these solutions. And if you want to edit your shots directly from your smartphone or tablet, you can use one of the apps listed in the last part of the tutorial.

So, are you ready to get started? Optimal! Make yourself comfortable, take your time to read the information contained in this guide, try the various solutions listed below and, at the end of the reading, use the ones that are right for you. As usual, I wish you good reading and have fun!

Cartoon Photo (Online)

One of the first solutions I suggest you try for change the facial expression of a photo è Cartoon Photo. It is a free web service that can be used directly from the browser without making any registration and, above all, without installing any additional plugins.

To change the facial expression of a photo with Cartoon Photo, all you have to do is connect to the Cartoon Photo website and click on the button Scegliere (located at the top left) to select the photo on which you intend to operate. Alternatively, you can use a photo from the web or a photo from Facebook by clicking on the buttons, respectively Put URL e From Facebook.

As soon as you have uploaded the photo you want to act on, remove the check mark from the item Animation effects (if you do not want to use the "cartoon" effect applied by default by the service), put the check mark next to the item Face morphing and, in the menu that appears, select one of the options listed under the item emotions to choose a facial expression to apply to the face of the subject portrayed in the photo: Smile, to make the subject smile; Sadness, to make him look sad; oops, to make him simulate a surprise reaction and so on. By selecting one of the options located under the heading Parody effects (Eg. Trollo, Alien, Light Bulb, etc.), instead, you can create a caricature.

As soon as you have found the expression that best suits the face of the subject portrayed in the photo, save your work by clicking on the button Save and share and, on the page that opens, click the button Download to save the output photo on your computer or, if you prefer, share it on one of the social networks listed or via email.

Sketch Your Face (Online)

Another online service you can turn to to change the expression of a face is Sketch Your Face. Also in this case we find ourselves in the presence of a completely free solution that can be used directly from the browser; in this case, however, to use the service you need to download and activate the Adobe Flash Player plugin.

To use Your Face, connected to the home page of the service, click on the button Choose file, select the photo in which the subject you want to change the expression of the face is present and click on the orange button Click to upload your face!. Alternatively, take a picture via the webcam (if your PC has one) by clicking on the button Use Your Webcam and giving Sketch Your Face access to your PC camera. As soon as you have loaded the photo to act on, distort the features of the subject portrayed in it by clicking on the desired point in the image and, holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor in the desired direction.

If you are not satisfied with the result, click on the red button Reset your face and do it all over again. If, on the other hand, you are happy with your work, save the output photo on your PC: click on the button Save your face, wait for the service to process the image (the message will appear for a few seconds Save in progress) and, finally, right-click on the image and select the item Save immagine give the menu check if you press.

Face Bender (Online)

Face Bender is another online service that could be useful for changing the facial expression of a subject portrayed in a photo. To use it, simply connect to its main page, upload the photo on which you want to act (after downloading and activating the Adobe Flash Player plugin) and select the effect you want to use.

To use Face Bender, first connected to its home page, click on the button KATEGORIEN and select the photo you want to edit. Then choose the effect to use by selecting one from the menu Select an effect (located on the left), click on the point in the photo where you want to apply the distortion and hold down the left mouse button while moving the cursor to act on the image. You can also adjust the intensity of the chosen effect using the adjustment bar placed under the preview of the photo.

When you are finally satisfied with the final result, save the output image by clicking the button Save photo (located at the top), type the name to be assigned to the file in the field Filename, click on the button Save and, in the window that opens, choose the location in which to save the JPG file. Easier than that ?!

GIMP (Windows / macOS / Linux)

If the online services that I have indicated in the previous paragraphs did not satisfy you, perhaps you should try some more professional solution to change the facial expression of a photo, such as GIMP, the famous photo editing software available for free download for Windows, macOS and Linux. This program, which in addition to being free is also open source, integrates various editing tools useful for changing the expressions of a face: try it and you won't regret it.

Before explaining how GIMP works, I must first show you how to download it to your computer. First, then connect to the GIMP website and click on the button first Download xxxx and then on the orange button Download GIMP xxxx directly. Then open the file you just downloaded and follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation of the program: on Windows, click on your bottone Yes and then OK, Install e end. On Macinstead, drag the GIMP icon into the folder Applications macOS, right-click on it and select the item apri from the menu that appears to "bypass" the restrictions that macOS applies to software from non-certified developers (obviously you will only have to do this when you first start GIMP).

Once you've finished installing GIMP on your computer and running the program, click on the entry Apri ... from the menu Fillet (top left) and select the photo you want to act on. Then click on the menu filters, select the tool Distortion and then click on the item IWarping .... in such a way as to access the tools to deform the subject portrayed in the photo, extremely useful for modifying his expression.

In the window that opens, select the type of distortion that you find most useful for your purpose (you could use, for example, the tool Move), adjust its range of action using the appropriate adjustment bars and edit the photo from its preview: for example you could move the ends of the mouth up to make the subject portrayed in the photo “smile” or move them down to simulate a sulky expression.

If you ever make a mistake, click on the buttons Remove o Reset to discard individual changes made to the image or to discard all changes made so far and redo the work from scratch. As soon as you are satisfied with the final result, click on the button OK and save the output photo by clicking the item Save as ... from the menu Fillet.

App to change the facial expression in a photo

Would you like to change the facial expression of a subject directly from your smartphone or tablet? Try the app to change the facial expression in a photo listed below - I'm sure they will be of great help to you.

• Faceapp (Android / iOS) - this semi-free application uses artificial intelligence to change the expression of faces portrayed in photos. Not all filters on FaceApp are free: to unlock them all and to remove the watermark applied to your works you need to make in-app purchases starting from € 0,59 on Android and € 1,99 on iOS.
• Fatify (Android / iOS) - this is a very funny semi-free application thanks to which it is possible to change the expression of a subject in a few taps. Among other things, Fatify makes it possible to make a subject smile, blink, yawn and even make him gain weight by 200 kg. Being a semi-free solution, some effects present in Fatify are available through in-app purchases starting from € 0,82 on Android and € 1,09 on iOS.
• Deformed (Android) - it is an app that, as its name suggests, allows you to deform faces by changing their facial expression. Not all DeforMe tools are free: some are available through in-app purchases starting at € 0,76.
• Effects to edit face photos (iOS) - a useful application that allows you not only to change the expression of a subject's face, but also to create hilarious animated caricatures. To remove the advertising banners present in the app and to have the complete package of effects, you need to purchase the full version of Effects to edit face photos, which costs 2,29 euros.

How to change the facial expression of a photo