Whether you are currently using before and after photos to drive new business into your practice, or if you are looking to start – here are a few helpful tips to ensure you are making the most of this impactful content.

1. Are Your Before and After
Photos “Picture Perfect”?

2. Before and After photos have proven to be some of the
most impactful marketing tools an aesthetic practice
has. Results are great to share on a website but a
majority of patients research providers using platforms
like Instagram, Facebook, and more recently – TikTok. A
“set it and forget it” strategy is not going to cut it on
these dynamic communities so one must have a
continual pipeline of results to share.

3. An article published by the American Med Spa
Association (AmSpa) recently highlighted that before
and after photos are crucial for medical spa promotion.
“The ability of images to attract and engage is
astonishing and demands a shift in how we reach
potential patients. Many clinics have already realized
the power of photographs (they are worth a thousand
words, after all) but don’t have the understanding to
leverage them appropriately.”

4. Whether you are currently using before and after
photos to drive new business into your practice, or if
you are looking to start – here are a few helpful tips to
ensure you are making the most of this impactful
content.

5. 1. Designate a Spot
Designating a space in your office to take before and
after photos helps improve consistency and quality of
your photos. It can also improve the patient
experience- going the extra mile to show them their
progression can drive home your commitment to their
success.

6. When selecting a space be sure to choose somewhere
in the office where all photos will be taken using a solid
background. Consider using marks on the walls and the
floor to ensure patients are standing in the same place
or at the same angle each time. To support PHYSIQ
owners for instance, Cartessa Aesthetics provides a
backdrop with gridlines and a floor decal so patients
can be positioned and better measure the changes in
their bodies. Whatever space you choose, ensure that
the lighting – whether natural or artificial – is good and
ideally lighting can remain undisturbed between
patients.

7. 2. Have the right paperwork
Protect yourself and your business by ensuring that you
have the patients consent (both verbally and written)
to use their photos and ensure whatever release you
are using, social media is included. Add these files to
your patient’s records along with the treatment setting
used and any pre- or post- treatment regimens
recommended. These details are essential for clinical
purposes and to have them handy when asked how you
produced such beautiful results!

8. 3. Take the Photos
Remember to take the “before” photo! This sounds
obvious but often times we get so excited to dive into
the procedure, that we forget to document our starting
point.

9. When taking the before photos, make sure to get
different angles (front facing, left-side, right side) which
will dictate the angles taken in the patient’s progression
photos. If you’re capturing a facial treatment, make
sure that your patient is not wearing any makeup and
to take photos with their eyes opened and closed. If
you’re capturing a body treatment, it is important that
you ask your patient to stand up straight and not suck
in/push out their chest and, if possible, to wear the
same clothing in each photo.

10. Then, don’t forget the after! Be sure to check in after
the appropriate amount of time has passed to
photograph results! It is best to photograph a patient’s
results in your office. Make it a habit to take pictures
before subsequent sessions or find ways to encourage
patients to come into the office so you can review their
results with them.

11. 5. Quality Counts
Lighting, focus and clarity are important things to
consider when evaluating the quality of your photos.
You want to capture the highest resolution possible to
ensure pictures can be used across digital platforms, in
print etc.

12. Ring lights are a great solution to keep lighting
consistent and to best spotlight the skin. To improve
focus and clarity, evaluate the distance the photo is
being taken from and try to avoid excessive zoom.
Standing still or using a tripod can help ensure that
your photos are taken from the same height and angle
each time. You can also consider using a digital camera
if phone photos are blurry or grainy!

13. 5. Consistency is a Priority
Consistency is KEY! It is incredibly important to ensure
that your before and after photos are taken in the same
lighting and position without any makeup, and if
possible, patients should be in the same outfit or
dressed in a similar color outfit as their before photos.
Improvements are best shown in photos where all
factors (especially the treatment area of course!) are
consistent. Inconsistent lighting and angles can
undermine the quality and yes, the authenticity of your
results.

14. 6. Consider using Apps
There are a number of photo apps that can assist in
laying out your photos consistently. The apps below are
recommended by the Cartessa Aesthetics Practice
Development team to help better promote photos
through social media:

15. • PicCollage
• Photo Mirror
• Layout
These apps differ slightly but they are all easily
integrated with social media. You can input your photos
and post directly from the app or save to your camera
roll to share later! Other useful tools include
HumazeMD – an online tool to organize all your before
and after’s and publish them directly to websites and
social media. In fact, Cartessa customers get a free 30-
day trial and preferred monthly pricing from
HumazeMD.

16. If you are investing in a best-in-class aesthetic device,
you are missing out if you are not showing off your
authentic, best-in-class results to current and potential
patients. Cartessa feels so strongly in the importance
of before and after’s, that practices can submit their
photo pairings online and if the quality, consent and
consistency is there, they receive a credit to our e-store
to cover marketing expenses, treatment consumables
and accessories.

17. If you have questions about leveraging your results for
marketing purposes and are interested in tips to better
position your practice for success as well as new
technology, reach out to your local Cartessa Aesthetics
representative or contact us today!