If a score looks wrong, the cause is almost always the input, not the formula. The maths is fixed: the same points always give the same scores. So a wrong score comes from one of two places, the photo or the landmark points. You can fix both, and checking the points is part of the normal flow, not a workaround.
How automatic placement works, and where it goes wrong
When you upload a photo, a face-mesh model runs in your browser and places the landmarks. It is fast and usually close. But a small error on the right point can move several ratios at once, and a point that is off on one side only looks like an asymmetry you do not have.
Some points have nothing for the model to find, because the face mesh does not cover the ears, neck or back of the head. Those points start at an estimate from an average head and blink until you drag them into place. Always place them yourself. The rest are detected, and these are the ones that drift most often:
Front photo: points to check first
| Point | Typical error | What it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Ear outer edge, neck side | Not detected at all. They start at an average-head estimate and blink until you place them. | Face width, neck width |
| Jaw angles and chin corners | Usually on the jaw outline but too far back along it, toward the ear. On a beard they sit on the beard edge. | Jaw width, jaw angle, lower face shape |
| Cheekbones | Placed a little low or inside the widest point, especially on lean or full faces. | Face width ratios. These are the most score-sensitive points on the face. |
| Hairline and temples | Placed on a fringe or stray hairs instead of the hair border. | Facial thirds, face height, forehead width |
| Chin bottom | Stops on the chin pad instead of the lowest edge of the outline. | Lower third, face height, chin ratios |
| Brow tails | Sit slightly high or short of the last hairs. | Brow shape. Small effect on the score. |
Side photo: points to check first
| Point | Typical error | What it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Ear, jaw, neck, head top and back | Not detected at all. They start at an average-head estimate and blink until you place them. | Head leveling, jaw and neck angles |
| Any point on the profile outline | Snaps to a wrong edge: a shadow, the edge of a beard or hair, or the background. You see a sharp kink in an otherwise smooth outline. | Nose, lip and chin angles |
| The whole outline | Occasionally shifts onto a parallel edge, such as a shadow line, as one block. There is no kink to spot, so compare the dots against the skin edge. | Every side measurement |
| Eye socket bottom | Placed too far back toward the ear or out on the cheek. | Head leveling and every angle that uses it |
If the side photo shows "No face detected", every point starts at the average-head estimate, and you need to drag each one onto your profile. This happens most often on photos that are not a full 90 degree profile.
Direction matters more than distance
A point that has slid along the face outline changes the score very little. A point pulled off the outline, into the background or onto the skin, changes it about ten times as much. So when you check the jaw, cheekbones and chin, first make sure each point sits exactly on the edge between face and background. Then check where along the edge it sits.
Fixing landmarks
- Open the landmark step. On your results, select "Edit your front landmark placements here" under the photo, or select step 2 or 3 at the top of the page.
- Select the point that looks off. The card beside the photo shows its name and how to find it, with an example on a sample face.
- Zoom in and drag it. Scroll or pinch to zoom; judge from the zoomed view, not the overview. On a keyboard, the arrow keys nudge the point, Shift and an arrow nudges it further, Enter moves to the next point, Backspace to the previous one, and R resets it to where it started.
- Work through the risky points first, using the tables above.
- Continue to results. Every ratio and score recalculates from the new points. If one ratio jumped a long way, look again at the points it is drawn between.
If the editor asks you to "Move the flashing pins", two points are in an impossible order (for example, the mouth above the nose). Check both, because the editor cannot tell which one is wrong.
To see which points a ratio uses, hover over or tap it on your results. Its measurement is drawn on your photo between the points it is calculated from.
Is it the photo, or the landmarks?
- Everything is off in the same direction (long face, big nose, narrow face): the photo is distorted. Retake it with the rear camera from six feet. See Taking the right photos.
- One or two ratios are far out while the rest look reasonable: a point is misplaced. Find the points that ratio uses and fix them.
- Asymmetry you do not recognise: either your head was turned or tilted in the photo, or a point on one side is misplaced. Check both.
- Side score much lower than front: usually a profile that is not a full 90 degrees, a raised or dropped chin, or a side point that snapped to a shadow.
- "Abnormal score detected": a score came out below 2 out of 10. On a real face that almost always means a bad photo or a misplaced point. Check the photo first, then the points.
What accuracy means here
The measurements. With correct points on an undistorted photo, every ratio and angle is exact geometry.
The ideal ranges. Where each ratio should sit comes from published aesthetic and anthropometric research, adjusted for sex and background. This is well founded, but it is a model of facial proportion, not a physical constant. That is why a score is a guide to your proportions, not a rating of you.
Still looks wrong?
Email support@ratemyfaceai.app. Tell us which ratio looks wrong and attach a screenshot of your landmarks, zoomed in on the area in question. We will tell you whether it is a placement or a bug.