Getting Speaker Photos Ready for an Event Page

You ask three speakers for a photo. One sends a studio headshot, another sends a picture from a wedding, and the third sends a tiny image from their company website.

Now you have to put them beside each other on the event page.

Before asking everyone for new pictures, drop the photos into the page and see how they look. The differences may be less noticeable than you think. Sometimes a better crop is all a picture needs.

Ask for a photo people can actually send

If you’re still collecting pictures, explain what you need in a short email: “Please send a recent head-and-shoulders photo for the event website and our social posts. The original file would be great.”

That gives people something clear to look for. You’re also less likely to receive a screenshot of a profile picture.

Mention that you may crop the photo to fit the page. If you plan to change backgrounds or make other edits, ask whether they’re comfortable with that too.

Give them a deadline and somewhere to send the file. Otherwise, the last photo may arrive in a message thread nobody thinks to check.

See what a crop can fix

Put the pictures into a draft of the event page before doing much editing. Use the same frame shape for everyone, then adjust each crop so the faces look roughly the same size.

The wedding photo might work once the person standing beside the speaker is out of the frame. The studio portrait may just need less empty space above their head.

Watch out for circular frames. They can cut into someone’s hair or shoulders even when the original photo has plenty of room.

Check the page on your phone as well. Can you recognise each person without zooming in? Does one face look much bigger than the others? Fix those things first.

There’s no need to keep editing a picture that already looks fine on the page.

Ask for a larger copy before fixing a tiny one

The small company photo deserves a quick follow-up email. Ask the speaker whether they have the original, or whether someone at their company can send it over.

If that’s the only copy available, a photo enhancer can help improve a slightly soft or compressed image. Start with a photo where you can already make out the person’s features.

Compare the edited version with the original. Look at their eyes, mouth, glasses and hair. If any of those have changed, try a gentler edit or go back to the original.

Then put it back into the page. You may find it looks perfectly usable at a smaller size. If it’s still difficult to recognise the speaker, asking for a new photo will save more time than repeatedly editing this one.

Change the background only if it’s distracting

A bookshelf behind one speaker and an office wall behind another don’t necessarily look bad together. Matching crops may be enough.

But perhaps the wedding photo still has a bright flower arrangement behind the speaker’s head. If you keep noticing the flowers first, an AI background changer lets you try a quieter background.

A short request will do: “Replace the background with a plain light-grey wall. Keep the person’s face, hair, glasses and clothes unchanged.”

Check what comes back rather than assuming everything stayed the same. Look for missing hair, odd edges around glasses or changes to the person’s face.

Put the result beside the other photos again. A grey background might help, but it doesn’t have to become a rule for every picture. Keep the version that looks most natural on the page.

Let each speaker see the final version

Send each person their finished crop alongside the name and job title you’ll publish. Ask them to check the picture and the wording before the page goes live.

They may spot an outdated title or prefer a different crop. It’s much easier to sort that out now than after the event announcement has been shared.

Keep the originals in one folder and the approved versions in another. Give the files clear names so nobody has to guess which version to use.

If you later need a square image for a social post, return to the original rather than cropping a small copy from the website. You’ll have more room to work with—and one less reason to email the speaker again.