How to Easily Whiten Teeth in Lightroom Mobile for Naturally Beautiful Portraits

Bright, white teeth can make a world of difference in a portrait. Whether you‘re shooting professional headshots, family photos, or casual portraits, subtly whitening your subject‘s smile is an easy way to make them look their best. It‘s one of those edits that has a big impact without screaming "Photoshop!".

The good news is, whitening teeth in Lightroom is a breeze once you know a few key techniques. In this in-depth tutorial, I‘ll walk you through how to naturally brighten smiles in Lightroom Mobile using precise masking, the Teeth Whitening preset, and some simple slider adjustments. (This method works just as well in the Lightroom Desktop app too!)

By the end, you‘ll be able to confidently whiten teeth in your portraits without them looking fake or overprocessed. Let‘s dive in!

First Things First: Check Your White Balance

Did you know the #1 culprit of yellow-looking teeth in photos is actually an incorrect white balance? It‘s true. White balance impacts all the colors in your image, including tooth color. So before we start painting white masks on those pearly whites, we need to make sure the overall color temperature of the photo is accurate.

Here‘s how to check and perfect your portrait‘s white balance in Lightroom Mobile:

1. In the Light panel, tap the eyedropper tool.
2. Use it to sample a neutral gray or white tone in the photo, like the whites of the eyes. (Avoid sampling the teeth themselves.)
3. Lightroom will auto-adjust the Temperature and Tint to neutralize any color cast.
4. Fine tune the Temp slider if needed. Cooler (bluer) temperatures generally make teeth look whiter, while warmer (yellower) ones do the opposite.

In this example, look how much whiter the teeth appear after correcting an overly warm white balance. The difference is subtle, but important for an accurate starting point.

If you‘re really off with white balance from the start, no amount of brushing and preset-ing will make the teeth truly white. Always begin with getting your colors right globally.

Step 1: Paint a Precise Mask Over the Teeth

With white balance sorted, it‘s time for the main event: masking! Lightroom‘s powerful masking tools allow us to select the teeth with precision, so we can whiten them without affecting the rest of the portrait. Here‘s how:

1. Zoom in nice and close on your subject‘s mouth. You want to really see those teeth.
2. Tap the round Masking icon, then choose Brush.
3. Dial in your brush settings:
   – Size: Just big enough to cover 1-2 teeth at a time for maximum control. You can use the [ and ] bracket keys to quickly adjust brush size.
   – Feather: Start with 0 for crisp mask edges. Feathering creates soft edges, which we don‘t need for teeth.
   – Flow: Controls the speed of the "paint" buildup. Set it to 100 so each brush stroke reaches full opacity right away.
   – Density: The maximum opacity the mask will reach. Also set to 100 for completely opaque masks.
   – Auto Mask: This is the key to precisely selecting the teeth and nothing else. When enabled, it limits the mask to areas of similar color to where you first clicked. Leave it on!
4. Begin carefully painting over the teeth, clicking once then dragging. Lightroom‘s auto mask does a great job detecting the edges. Brush over each tooth with multiple strokes for full coverage.
5. If you accidentally paint beyond the teeth, tap the Subtract option and brush over the mistake to erase it. Alternatively, hold the Alt key to temporarily switch to Subtract mode.

You‘ll see a red overlay appear as you brush, indicating the masked area. When you‘re finished, the mask should cover the teeth completely with no gaps, but not spill over onto the gums or lips.

Pro Tip: For the Fastest Masking, Try the "Mouth" Preset

If you want to skip the manual brushing, give Lightroom‘s AI-powered Mouth mask preset a try. It automatically detects and selects the entire mouth area, including the teeth, lips and even the tongue. You can then subtract sections you don‘t want and be left with a pretty accurate tooth mask.

I still prefer a careful manual approach for the best edges and details. But in a pinch, the Mouth preset can save serious time!

Step 2: Clean Up the Mask with Subtract Tools

Unless you have an impossibly steady hand, chances are your tooth mask extends a bit onto the lips and gums. To ensure the most realistic whitening result, we need to clean that up. There are two ways to subtract from a mask in Lightroom Mobile:

Option 1: Brush Subtract

The Brush tool works in both Add and Subtract modes. With Subtract active, painting over an area removes it from the mask.

To access Subtract mode, either:

• Tap Subtract in the Mask sub-menu
• Hold the Alt key while brushing

I recommend using a small brush with auto-masking still on for the most precise erasing. Focus on eliminating any mask edges that bleed onto the lips or gum line.

If you happen to subtract too much, you can always switch back to Add mode to paint areas back in.

Option 2: Color Range Subtract

For bigger areas, the Color Range tool is your new best friend. It selects pixels based on a sample color your provide. Since lips and gums are pinker than teeth, it works perfectly for cleaning up tooth masks in a couple clicks.

Here‘s how to use it:

1. Tap the Subtract dropdown in the Masks panel and choose Color Range.
2. Your cursor will turn into an eyedropper. Click once on the lip or gum color you want to remove.
3. Boom! Lightroom instantly removes areas matching that pink hue from the tooth mask.
4. Repeat the process, sampling other colors as needed until the mask is cleaned up.

Color Range is brilliant for quickly knocking out large sections of a mask. Keep in mind it affects the entire image though, so if your subject has something pink elsewhere (clothes, background, etc.) it will subtract there too. In that case, stick with Brush Subtract for more control.

Step 3: Apply the Teeth Whitening Preset

Lightroom actually has a dedicated preset for whitening teeth. How convenient is that? Not only does it brighten the selected area, it also desaturates slightly for a convincingly white (not blindingly fluorescent) appearance.

To use it:

1. Tap the Effect option at the top of the Mask panel.
2. In the Effect menu, scroll down until you see Teeth Whitening and select it.

Voila! With one tap, Lightroom instantly brightens and desaturates the masked teeth for a whiter (but still natural) smile.

Technically, here‘s what the preset is doing under the hood:

• Exposure: +0.40
• Contrast: +5
• Highlights: +10
• Shadows: +5
• Whites: +5
• Blacks: +5
• Saturation: -60

It‘s a great combo for most tooth whitening needs. Of course, you‘re welcome to tweak any of the individual sliders for a custom look. Many pro retouchers also lower the temp slightly for an even icier white appearance.

FYI: Other Presets That Can Brighten Teeth

Several other Lightroom presets have tooth-whitening powers thanks to their brightening and desaturating properties. Try applying just the mask (not globally!) with:

• High Contrast
• Boost
• Cinematic
• Some B&W presets like Antique Contrast
• Creamtone and other vintage faded looks

Experiment with what you‘ve got! The Teeth Whitening one is a great go-to, but other presets can provide creative alternatives while still freshening up the smile.

Step 4: Perfect the Whitening Intensity

We all want pearly white chompers. But go too far, and the effect quickly looks fake. Unless you‘re going for an ultra-stylized look, the key to realistic teeth whitening is moderation.

The Amount slider controls the overall intensity of your masked adjustments. You‘ll find it at the top of the Mask panel. By default, it‘s set to 100. For a subtler whitening effect, simply reduce the Amount.

Here‘s a quick before and after comparison. The left shows the Teeth Whitening preset at 100 Amount. On the right, I‘ve dialed it back to 60:

See how the 60 Amount looks more natural, while still being noticeably whiter than the original? Aim for that sweet spot.

The Amount slider is your friend for group photos too. Dial in your whitening effect on one person‘s teeth, then use the Sync option to copy the mask to everyone else in the photo. From there, you can adjust each subject‘s Amount individually for a custom result.

Bonus: Brighten Eyes for More Sparkle

You know what pairs perfectly with freshly whitened teeth? Bright, sparkling eyes! While you‘ve got your masking tools out, try subtly whitening the eyes too for an extra pop.

Use the same workflow we covered above:

1. Paint a mask over the whites of the eyes (avoid the irises and pupils)
2. Remove any overflow onto the skin/eyelashes with Brush or Color Range Subtract
3. Bump up the Exposure, Shadows and Whites
4. Reduce Saturation to taste

Whitening eyes follows the same principles as teeth. Keep your mask precise, stick to small slider moves, and dial back the Amount as needed for a natural look. Easy!

The combo of bright teeth and eyes does wonders for any portrait, as seen above. It‘s subtle, but impactful.

Note: If your mask ends up covering any catchlights (bright white reflections on the eye‘s surface), scale back the Amount until they still shine through. You want to whiten the whites, not obliterate the natural highlights!

For more tips, check out my full guide on How to Whiten and Brighten Eyes in Lightroom.

You‘ve Got the Power to Whiten!

And there you have it! You‘re now armed with a professional teeth whitening workflow for Lightroom.

To recap, the keys are:

1. Nail your white balance first
2. Paint a precise tooth mask using auto-masking
3. Clean up the mask edges with Brush/Color Range Subtract
4. Apply the Teeth Whitening preset
5. Fine tune the Amount for a natural look
6. Pair with brightened eyes for bonus points

The whole process only takes a minute or two once you get the hang of it. But don‘t underestimate the impact it can have on your portraits! Whitening teeth is one of those edits that quietly elevates a photo from good to great. Your subjects will certainly appreciate it.

So give it a try on your favorite portraits and headshots! If you‘re feeling generous, I‘d love to see your best tooth whitening before and afters. Feel free to share them in the comments for a chance to be featured in a future post.

For more Lightroom editing tips, tutorials and presets, check out the Lightroom Learning Hub. I‘m always cooking up new content to help you get the most out of everyone‘s favorite editing app.

Happy whitening!

Note: All screenshots captured in Lightroom Mobile app on iOS 14. Lightroom interface may appear slightly different on Android devices.