The 9 Tinder Pictures Proven To Work Best For Regular Guys

Tinder pics are a necessary evil that no guy wants to deal with.

But if you want to match with higher quality women on Tinder, you will need higher quality pictures.

This ultimate guide will explain exactly how to get your Tinder photos handled.  So you can stop guessing which photos might work, and start matching with more cute girls on Tinder, while you can also visit the chaturbate sex cams to find great girls as well.

If you are going to have casual sex in your Tinder dates and you will be using sex toys, be careful because there have been a variety of news stories about “toxic sex toys,” directly linked to the use of phthalates in sex toys.

Why listen to me?  I’m a Personal Dating Assistant.  My team & I have been scientifically scoring Tinder pics for guys for over 3 years.

I’ve tested Tinder profile pics with dogs.  I’ve tried funny Tinder pics.   We’ve even gone for shirtless selfies, just to make sure they’re as bad as women say  (and they have their place!).

I don’t pretend to know what the best Tinder picture is going to be for every guy.  But if you follow this guide, along with our other Tinder tips, you’ll have success.

How To Take Good Tinder Profile Pictures

• 1. High quality photos get more matches than cell phones pics. So work with a professional. If you can’t afford one, get a friend with a digital SLR camera, and treat them to lunch after.
• 2. Think about something funny to get a genuine looking smile. If that’s not your style, narrow your eyes, smirk, or just look away from the camera.
• 3. Don’t expect drastically different match rates with different high quality pictures. Focus on incremental improvements instead.

• 4. Asking for outside female opinions on your best Tinder photos is a great starting point. But not reliable for optimizing your actual match rate.
• 5. Getting a Superlike from women on Tinder is super rare. If you get one, it’s kind of a big deal.
• 6. Invest a significant time commitment in the messaging process, or hire a Personal Dating Assistant to get success on Tinder.

Online Dating Pictures – The Conventional Tips

A landmark 2010 blog post from Okcupid laid the groundwork for what would become the best practices on dating pictures for guys.

Some of the counter-intuitive takeaways said that men’s photos are most effective when they look away from the camera and don’t smile.

Problem is, lots of the stuff that worked for online dating back in 2010 is completely different now, in the age of A.D.D. dating apps.

More recently, the makers of the photo scoring tool Photofeeler published an article claiming that this old Okcupid advice that guys had been following as gospel was wrong.  That in fact, smiling and looking at the camera can be ok, depending on a zillion other factors.

But both of these sources have problems.  Okcupid compared big groups of similar photos, rather than a more controlled A/B split test using 2 different photos from the same man.  And while the Photofeeler test did this (and hats off to them for it), they simply collected opinion, rather than plot actual matches or messaging behavior on a live online dating platform.

So I solved this by doing both. Controlled A/B split tests, on the live Tinder app itself.

Click Here To Skip To Our For Science! Methodology At The Bottom

Tinder Pics Tested

1. Casual Clothes VS Dressed Up

When taking photos for Tinder, I tell my clients to go for 1 uptown look (suit, no tie), and 1 downtown look (ie. cool leather jacket).  In Jason’s example here, his hoodie is more casual than I’d normally want to see, but because it’s such a high quality shot, I’ve let it slide.  While a nice suit with no tie is always a classic.

Super Casual

Jason, 28

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Overly casual outfit

Dressed Nice

Jason, 28

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. High contrast colors

Analysis

Jason’s super casual look resulted in a 4% match rate, while dressing up gained him closer to 6% + 1 inbound message.  Because it’s rare for the same man to see a large improvement using different high quality Tinder photos, this is exactly the sort of incremental boost guys should be aiming for when selecting their lead photo for Tinder.   With an average match rate hovering around 5%, Jason’s Tinder profile photos performed ok.

Conclusion

• It’s worth dressing up for your Tinder photo. While it won’t revolutionize your dating life, the incremental boost will gain you a few extra matches when compared to slumming it.

2. Smile VS Stoic Tinder Pics

When I was choosing someone for the smile test, I picked a ridiculously handsome dude, specifically with a great smile.  Joseph has a movie star smile for sure.  He looks a little like Hugh Jackman, or Matt Healy.

Stoic

Joseph, 35

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Narrow “squinched” eyes

Smile

Joseph, 35

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Genuine smile

Analysis

Had I run this test for a guy with an average, or below average smile, I’m confident the stoic pictures would have gotten more matches.  Joseph had either relaxed squinched eyes, or a huge genuine smile.  These are 2 reliable keys to a successful eye contact Tinder photo for men. In Joseph’s case (brilliant smile), it got him slightly more matches, while the stoic look still resulted in more inbound messages.  Personally, I’ve always suspected there’s something about the stoic look that invites a woman to initiate conversation.  While the friendly smile, signals to the woman that he’s about to make the first move.

Conclusion

• If you’ve got a great smile, definitely lead with it for your main Tinder photo. If your smile is average, or not coming across as genuine, it’s better to go with a stoic lead Tinder photo.

3. Looking At The Camera VS Looking Away

Another long observed dating picture commandment says that it’s better for guys to look away from the camera than to look directly into it.  The reasoning is that you’ll come across as more mysterious, cool, and appear to have more important things going on than having your picture taken for Tinder.  So let’s put this advice to the test:

Look Away Serious

Joseph, 35

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Narrow “squinched” eyes

Look Away Smile

Joseph, 35

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Genuine smile

Analysis

Joseph got slightly fewer matches looking away here, when compared with his previous eye contact photos. But why?   Based on what I’ve seen for typical guys, looking directly into the camera can be problematic. Fake smiles, scary eye contact, and generally not feeling comfortable while having their picture taken, often results in lookaway pics performing better.  Because Joseph is a professional, he knew how to smile in a genuine way on cue.

Also interesting is that despite feedback saying they preferred his smile picture, women were happy to match with Joseph smiling or not.  Ok, back to the average guys!

Conclusion

• Rather than thinking in terms of making eye contact vs looking away, focus on making your facial expression as genuine as possible.
• When having an eye contact picture taken, you should squinch your eyes in a chill way (takes practice!), or be in a great mood while thinking about something ridiculously funny. This will cause the correct facial muscles around your mouth & eyes to tighten in a realistic, convincing way.

4. Picture With A Dog VS Solo

Another long held piece of online dating dogma says that dating pictures with animals are natural chick magnets.

And at 97% smart, trustworthy and attractive, women rated David’s picture below with his dog as one of the best Tinder pictures possible.  But does that mean they actually want to match with and date him too?

Solo

David, 28

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Fake smile

• 1. Overly bright lighting

• 1. Head tucked back rather than protruding forward produces a fat neck special effect

With A Dog

David, 28

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• 1. Genuine smile

Analysis

So much for dogma.

David & his beastly companion matched on the low’ish side of average for Tinder pictures.  With only 7 & 10 matches over 250 swipes, things weren’t clicking as well as I’d hoped for this dynamic duo.  What went wrong?  I can’t say for sure.  But I have 3 theories.

For one, with the lush green background and bright lightning, David looks more stock photo’y than our other guys.  Almost as if he walked out of a pet calendar rather than a guy with real Tinder profile pics

It could also be that after 7 years of online dating advice articles saying to take pictures with pets, it’s been over done, and women have grown weary of the tactic. But most likely, dating pictures with pets simply aren’t the optimal choice for a casual dating app like Tinder.

Conclusion

• While a cute dog will make you look more trustworthy & kind, kindness doesn’t translate to more women wanting to hook up with you on Tinder.

• Pics with pets still work great on more traditional, relationship’y dating sites like Match.com. And a must for datemypet.com!

5. Cool VS Approachable

Ty is a younger guy with big hair, big guns, and tats.  He can pull off the bad boy image with ease.  This look definitely has a market.  But he’s going to be limited to younger girls, and who are specifically into that.  Plus most online dating advice says not to wear sunglasses in your dating photos. To contrast, I tested a more approachable look for Ty.  Not only with his sunglasses off, but rocking a pink shirt to boot, making him come across much less intimidating.  In fact, he’s coming dangerously close to gay best friend territory.  But let’s see how his numbers panned out.

Too Cool For School

Ty, 26

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 25)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Suns out, guns out

• Sunglasses hide his eyes

Approachable

Ty, 26

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 25)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Low angle signals height

• Very dark lighting on his left side

Analysis

Ty’s cool, badboy image scored low.  Both in terms of the number of Matches he got on Tinder, as well as in the feedback from girls up to age 25. Change him to the approachable look however, and Ty is back in the running with a solid 6% average match rate.  Plus 1 superlike to boot.

Conclusion

• The online dating advice columns are right about this one. Lose the sunglasses. Double your Tinder matches.

6. Instagram Filter VS Normal

In the age of always-on technology, instagram filters provide a feeling of nostalgia & vintage authenticity to Tinder photos.  But will leveraging the trend for yourself actually make you more dateable?  The concept is highly suspect.  But when it comes to online dating pictures, I’m constantly being surprised, and learning new stuff.  So I prefer not leaving something to chance if I have the opportunity to test it.

Vintage Filter

Cho, 27

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Painfully generic background & style

No Filtering

Cho, 27

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Painfully generic background & style

Analysis

Despite getting rave reviews from the ladies on Photofeeler (#1 for smart!), women on Tinder did not want to match with Cho in droves.  Adding the Instagram filter, sadly did not help his case. PS keep in mind that Cho, like all the guys here in our experiment, have an empty Tinder bio.  Expect to get notably more matches with a good Tinder bio.  Especially for more basic looking bros like Cho.

Conclusion

• Sadly, slapping on an Instagram filter won’t get you more matches on Tinder (if only…)

• But while Tinder is a trendy app, using a trendy vintage photo filter can make a younger guy appear 1 point cooler. For older men on Tinder, a vintage filter will just make you look older.

7. Pretty Girls With You, VS Rolling Solo

Do Tinder pics with girls make you look more desirable? Another classic “don’t do” from most Tinder tips you see on the internet.  Women claim that when you have a girl in your dating picture, it looks like you’re either taken, trying too hard, or triggering them to play the comparing game (ie. is she prettier than me?”).   From a guys perspective, few things get a womens attention more than already having a woman out with you.  So it seems plausible that showing girls with you in your dating pictures could work as an attractor.  So who’s right?

With Girls

Chris, 25

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 25)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Can’t see his face clearly

No Girls

Chris, 25

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 25)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Can’t see his face clearly

Analysis

With only a few matches total, including his fresh account noob boost, Chris’s results were abysmal.  With girls or without, not being able to see Chris’s face clearly certainly hurt his match rate. Full disclosure; I suspect there was more at play than simply unlikeable photos, because I ran into issues with phone number validation when I was setting up Chris’s 2 accounts.  I eventually sorted it out, but I suspect due to the mixup, the Tinder algorithm flagged Chris’s new accounts as questionable, and penalized his ELO for it (Tinder’s ELO score is a behind-the-scenes metric that Tinder uses to decide how desirable any given profile is).  So take the results of this test with a grain of salt.

Conclusion

• The jury is out on this one until further notice. Until then, we still assume pictures with girls repel more than attract in most cases.

8. Low Quality VS High Quality

For this test, I snapped a shitty cell phone picture of myself while editing this article.  As you can see it’s a little blurry.  The lovely background is my half open closet.  On the plus side, I got the laid-back facial expression right, and had a fresh haircut. The high quality photo I’m competing against was taken 2 minutes later by my wife, on our used Nikon D5200 digital SLR camera.  As you can see, the photo quality is night & day better even on a 5 year old SLR, compared to my brand new Samsung smart phone.  But will a better quality photo alone result in more matches on Tinder?

Cell Phone Quality

Matthew, 38

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants Matthew Valentines

• Handsome devil

Digital SLR Quality

Matthew, 38

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 37)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants Matthew Valentines

• Handsome devil

Analysis

This test proved what my fellow Personal Dating Assistants & I have been preaching for a long time; picture quality matters.

It’s still shocking to me when new members come to us for help, but remain unwilling to invest in high quality photos for their dating profiles.  This super simple upgrade is a proven way to get more matches on Tinder, or any other dating site.

The higher quality photo taken here was by an amateur, with dark lighting on the right side of my face, and it still resulted in lots more matches on Tinder.  In the hands of a professional, you can get even better results.

Conclusion

• Quality photos are an easy upgrade, and always worth the investment.

9. Shirtless 6-pack VS Formal

It’s a battle of extremes!  We already know every girls crazy for a sharp dressed man.  But because Tinder has a reputation as a hookup app, running a lead photo showing off 6 pack abs is perfectly acceptable on Tinder too.  So which approach is better? Not many guys have the discipline to craft a great body.  But just about anyone can rent a tuxedo and pose.  So for this we tested Sam, who happens to have quality pictures doing both.

Shirtless Selfie

Sam, 39

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 25)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Abs on Tinder: if you’ve got em, flaunt em

• Selfie pose

Tuxedo Formal

Sam, 39

0 miles away

Tinder activity after 250 swipes

Matches
Inbound Messages
Superlikes

Feedback on Photofeeler (females to age 25)

Feedback from Personal Dating Assistants

• Genuine smile

• Intriguing juxtoposition between background & outfit

Analysis

Being a comparison of extremes, this test was the biggest exception to our incremental improvements expectation.  Sam in the tux got 2.5 times more matches compared to shirtless.  And that’s despite him having a perfect physique.

Also note that Sam’s shirtless pic suggests he’s taking a selfie.  While it’s not an actual seflie, the shot still suggests vanity, which probably resulted in fewer matches had he been throwing a football, or doing something more natural.

Conclusion

• If you’ve got a 6 pack, that’s great. But you’ll probably get even more matches on Tinder by throwing on a bowtie.

For Science! How We Evaluate Tinder Pics

Each Tinder profile picture was tested on a brand new account.  We always test this way, because Tinder awards new accounts a special visibility boost, prioritizing the pics to the top of all local women’s swipe deck queues.

After a few days of glory, the bonus visibility is lost, and new profiles bump you out of the top spot, often to the point of having hardly any new matches on Tinder at all.  (If you’re having this problem, read Mia’s article on how to get matches again on Tinder.)

Setting up multiple accounts is not easy.  Tinder only allows 1 new account activation per phone number (VoIP numbers don’t work for validation).  After I ran out of friends to borrow phones for activations, I had to start buying new numbers.  Here at PDA, we only get paid if we can make guys more successful on Tinder, so it’s worth it for us to have good data.

Tinder allows for about 125 swipes per day for free accounts, before showing you the dreaded “Get Tinder Plus” upgrade screen.  Each test result here is after using the maximum daily swipes for free accounts.  Pro tip; 1 day and 125 swipes is plenty of time to get a rough idea if your lead Tinder photo is good or not.

To get a big match pool, all tests were GPS spoofed to New York City.

Finally, with so many profiles to keep track of, we manage our Tinder for desktop PC, rather than actual phones.  Stay tuned for an article on that too.

Because we have a strict privacy policy covering our actual clients, all of the examples I tested here were created from licensed stock photos.

To control for pictures only, none of our Tinder profiles had a bio filled out.

I deleted any promotional matches or messages.  They didn’t count towards the totals.  At the time of these tests, Tinder has completely terminated the fake profiles & bots that once plagued the app (for now).

For matching, I right swiped on almost every girl, with an occasional left swipe so I didn’t get flagged as a bot.

How We Solicited Feedback

To gauge general sentiment, I ran each Tinder photo through a scoring tool called Photofeeler.  It gives us a rough guide as to how women feel about a given dating picture, when compared to others.

95% attractive means that Cho was rated more attractive than all but 5% of other men seen by the tool.  At this rate, you might expect he can just kick back, and get tons of Tinder matches.

Unfortunately for Cho, what women say as feedback, and how they actually behave on the dating apps are 2 very different things.  Sorry bud, but you’re gonna have to work for it like the rest of us!

“What Do The Experts Think About Tinder Pictures?

Here’s what the Personal Dating Assistants think about Tinder photos;

Female Opinion From Mia Topalian – Personal Dating Assistant

“Tinder pictures ARE the profile. When choosing photos, I make sure that even if someone doesn’t read a word of the bio, the pictures paint a clear portrait of what my client is about.”

Male Opinion From Matthew Violette – Personal Dating Assistant

“I’d say the best Tinder picture is where there’s some object of interest, or activity, that makes her wonder what it’s all about. Sort of like peacocking, but with intrigue”

Female Opinion From Karen O’Connel – Personal Dating Assistant

“I always recommend photos that show off something cool you like to do, and demonstrate your Attractive Archetype.”

Want To Know The Best Tinder Pictures For You?

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