Questions and answers
Answers from a photographer who shoots headshots for a living.
Every question buyers ask before they upload. Identity, quality, usage rights, privacy, pricing, and the redo policy. Written by the working photographer who built Aurawave.
Identity and quality
Will the headshots actually look like me
Will my AI headshot actually look like me?
Yes. Aurawave's Intelligence Engine grades every output against a working photographer's checklist for identity match, catchlight, fill ratio, sharpness, and jaw separation. Photos that fail the checklist are killed and regenerated. The set you receive is the set that passed.
Can recruiters tell my photo is AI?
A trained eye can spot AI on the worst outputs. The recruiter looking at your LinkedIn profile in 3 seconds cannot spot it on a graded Aurawave output. The colleague who knows your face well might notice something is 'off' if the photo is bad. Our grading step throws out the photos most likely to read as off.
Will the photos look airbrushed or 'model-y'?
No. The grading checklist is built around looking like a real person on a great hair day, not a model. We kill outputs that smooth skin texture too aggressively, brighten teeth, slim faces, or change eye color. The goal is 'you, on a great day,' not 'a stranger who looks vaguely like you.'
What if my hair color or skin tone shifts in the output?
That is identity drift. We grade for it specifically. If a generated photo has shifted your hair color, skin tone, eye color, or apparent age outside the bounds of your training selfies, the photo is killed before it reaches you. Other AI tools ship the drift photos as part of the batch; we do not.
Process and timing
What happens after I upload
How long does it take?
Under 90 minutes from upload to delivery. Most orders finish in less than an hour. The Intelligence Engine grades every output and regenerates failures, so the timing depends on how clean the first generation is. You will get an email when the set is ready.
How many selfies do I need to upload?
Ten. Phone selfies from the last 6 to 12 months are perfect. Mix expressions (some smiling, some serious), mix angles, mix outfits and backgrounds. Variety teaches the model what is consistently you and what is just the lighting in one photo.
What kinds of photos work best?
Recent phone selfies in natural daylight or office light. Face large in the frame, expression close to what you want in the result, no hats, no sunglasses, no heavy filters. Read the selfie guide for the full do-and-don't list.
How many photos do I get back?
About 25 graded photos in the standard pack. Every photo passed the grading checklist. You do not have to sort through 50 rejects to find 5 keepers.
Can I redo or regenerate a session?
Yes. If the set does not look like you, reply to the delivery email within 14 days and we regenerate at no charge. Redos take 48 hours.
Usage and ownership
What you can do with your headshots
Do I own the photos?
Yes. Full commercial use. Use them on LinkedIn, your firm bio, your company website, your Avvo or Healthgrades profile, your press kit, business cards, conference badges, dating profiles, anywhere you need a professional photo of yourself.
Can my employer use them?
Yes. Your delivered photos are yours to use however you choose. If you bought a session and your company wants to feature your headshot on a team page, that is fine. For company-wide rollouts of 5+ employees, look at our team pricing.
Can I edit, crop, or retouch the photos after delivery?
Yes. Edit, crop, retouch, composite, color grade, do whatever your design system needs. The photo is yours.
Are there any platforms where AI photos are banned?
A handful of stock photo and casting platforms ban AI-generated submissions. Most professional networks (LinkedIn, Avvo, Healthgrades, your firm bio, your company about page) do not. Always check the specific platform's terms if you are uncertain.
Pricing and redo
What it costs and what we guarantee
Is this a subscription?
No. Every Aurawave pack is a one-time purchase. We do not auto-renew, and we do not require a credit card on file after checkout.
What is the difference between the three tiers?
Foundation ($19) is a solid professional image upgrade with 15 authentic headshots and a 7-day revision period. Standard ($37) is a basic professional image enhancement with additional quantity (25 headshots), same 7-day revision. Premium ($59) is the conversion tier: 60 professional images, 35 authority expressions, 35 backgrounds, advanced credibility indicators, and a 30-day extended revision period.
Can I buy headshots for my whole team?
Yes. Team pricing starts at $45 per person for 1-4 seats and drops to $39 per person at 5+ seats. For 100+ employees, contact us for an enterprise quote.
What does the redo policy actually say?
Six words. 'If it doesn't look like you, we redo it.' No fine print. No clause about download status. No clock that voids the redo if you wait too long. Email us within 14 days and we regenerate.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. If a redo also fails to deliver a usable set, you get a full refund within 5 business days. You can also request a refund within 14 days of purchase if you have not yet downloaded any photos.
Privacy and ethics
What happens to your photos and your data
What happens to my uploaded selfies?
They train your private session model and generate your photos. Then they are deleted from our servers 30 days after generation. We do not use your selfies to train shared models, and we do not share them with third parties.
Are AI headshots ethical?
Aurawave's position is that an AI headshot built from your real selfies, used to represent the real you on a professional platform, is not deception. It is photo retouching at the model level. We refuse to generate photos of public figures, minors, or people who have not given consent.
Will my AI headshot be used in your marketing without my permission?
No. We only feature delivered photos in our marketing if you explicitly opt in at checkout. The opt-in is unchecked by default.
Do you use my data to train your models?
No. Your selfies train your private session model and are deleted 30 days after generation. We do not pool customer photos into a shared training set.
Still have a question?
Email hello@aurawave.ai and a working photographer reads it. Most replies go out the same business day.