Should I use the flash?

We would suggest not. A flash throws strong light straight at the palm, which tends to blow it out white and erase the lines. Daylight from the side photographs far better.

Do dry hands photograph badly?

Dryness itself is not a problem. A hand still wet from washing reflects the light and makes the lines harder to see, so photograph it dry.

Should I remove nail varnish or hand cream first?

On the palm side, nail varnish makes no difference. Hand cream can reflect light if it has just been applied, so leaving it a while gives a steadier result.

Photographing your palm — five things that make the lines show

2026.09.10 updated · 4 min read

NonokaGentleTells you it is going to be all right, and stays close to how you feel

NonokaHello, Nonoka here. Are you having trouble getting a good photograph of your palm? Changing a few small things about how you take it really does change how many lines come out.

When a palm is read from a photograph, the thing that goes wrong most often is that the lines are too faint to make out. The lines on a palm photograph completely differently depending on how the light falls on them. The same hand, photographed two ways, will show a different number of lines.

Here are five things that make the lines show clearly. You need no special equipment. The phone in your hand is enough.

1. Avoid direct sun and standing right under a ceiling light

This may be the opposite of what you expect, but somewhere very bright is not good for photographing a palm. When strong light comes straight down, the whole palm lights evenly and the unevenness of the lines disappears. The lines are grooves, so without shadow there is nothing to photograph.

What works better is a spot a little away from a window, where daylight comes in from the side. A window on an overcast day is particularly good. Indoors, step slightly out from directly beneath the ceiling light.

Light from the side casts a thin shadow along each line. That shadow is precisely what makes the line readable in a photograph.

2. Open the hand gently. Do not bend it back

Spreading the fingers back hard pulls the skin of the palm tight and makes the lines shallower. Gripping tightly does the opposite and makes them overlap. Both are common, so do not worry if you recognise yourself here.

NonokaWhat works is resting your hand on a table and simply letting the tension go. The fingers separate a little on their own, and the middle of the palm dips slightly. That shape gives the deepest lines.

Rest your hand palm up on a table or desk
Let the tension out of the fingers — not bent back, not gripped, simply extended
Hold the phone where everything from wrist to fingertips is in the frame

3. Shoot from 20 to 30 cm, filling the frame with the palm

Photographed from further off, the palm takes up little of the frame and the fine lines are lost. Come close enough that the palm fills nearly the whole picture. Twenty to thirty centimetres is about right.

Too close and it will not focus, though. Phone cameras often blur inside about ten centimetres, so move back until the lines look sharp on the screen.

4. Focus on the middle of the palm

Left to itself, the camera may focus on your fingertips or on the background. Tap the middle of the palm on screen — around where the life line and the head line cross — to fix the focus there.

On most phones, holding that tap locks both focus and exposure. Once it is locked, bringing the brightness down slightly raises the contrast of the lines and makes them easier to read.

5. Photograph your dominant hand, and the other one if you can

In palm reading, the right and left hands are said to show different things. It is commonly said that the left shows what you were born with and the right what you have developed since, although some schools read it the other way round.

If you are taking only one, we suggest your dominant hand. The hand you use every day is thought to show your present state more readily. If you have time for both, having the pair to compare is part of the interest.

How to tell when to take it again

If the photograph looks like this	What to change
The lines are barely visible	Bring the light in from the side; step out from under the ceiling light
It is blown out white	Lower the brightness and turn the flash off
It is blurred	Tap the middle of the palm to set the focus
The hand is small in the frame	Come in to 20 to 30 cm
The shadows are so dark they go black	Move a little away from the light, or put white paper on the far side to bounce some back

One thing worth checking before you send a photograph

A palm photographed large can include your fingerprints. When you send an image to any online service, it is worth knowing where it goes and how long it is kept.

NonokaOn this service we do not store the images you send. They are used for the analysis and discarded as soon as it is done. The analysis runs on a service based in the United States (OpenAI), so there is a screen asking you to confirm that before anything is sent.

Now that you know how, all that is left is to take the photograph. If it does not come out well, look at the table above and take it again as many times as you like. There is no hurry.

Common questions

Should I use the flash?: We would suggest not. A flash throws strong light straight at the palm, which tends to blow it out white and erase the lines. Daylight from the side photographs far better.
Do dry hands photograph badly?: Dryness itself is not a problem. A hand still wet from washing reflects the light and makes the lines harder to see, so photograph it dry.
Should I remove nail varnish or hand cream first?: On the palm side, nail varnish makes no difference. Hand cream can reflect light if it has just been applied, so leaving it a while gives a steadier result.