Upload a portrait and get an elegant La Catrina look for Día de Muertos: refined face paint, marigolds and candlelight.
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One person, face clear and front-on, hair off the face. Soft, even light shows the face paint best.
Photo settings
No prompt needed. Only upload photos of yourself or people who agreed to be featured; celebrity photos and film stills aren't allowed.
Bring a Halloween photo to life
Try itLower the gun, open your arms, cut to the memory
Try itCostume first, then the tilt-up reveal
Try it
Try a full Halloween costume on your own photo
Try itWatch your selfie turn into a glowing skeleton, werewolf or vampire
Try itA kitchen selfie, painted three ways: La Catrina's flowered hat, a marigold crown and the candlelight of an ofrenda. Each one suits a different moment of the season.
Classic Catrina
Fine white-and-black calavera paint, a wide black hat with roses and feathers and a lace shawl: the look closest to the figure Posada first drew. A natural profile picture for the last week of October.
Marigold crown
A crown of cempasúchil marigolds, an embroidered blouse and papel picado colors behind. Planning real Catrina makeup for a parade or a family celebration? Save the design you like and paint from it.
Candlelit altar
Gold-accented paint, a lace veil and red roses, lit by the candles of a softly blurred ofrenda. Made for the days themselves, when feeds fill with altars, marigolds and memories of loved ones.
Your own face under the paint, and the symbols of the day around it.
Your eyes, brows, smile and hairline stay readable under the paint, so friends and family know it's you at a glance.
The eye rings, nose and stitched smile are drawn around your own face instead of sitting on top like a sticker, with fine lines and petals that stay symmetrical.
Cempasúchil marigolds, papel picado, candles, lace and roses. No pumpkins, cobwebs or bats: Día de Muertos is its own holiday.
No zombies, no blood, no cracked skin. La Catrina is a smiling, well-dressed skeleton who reminds everyone that death comes for rich and poor alike, and the portraits keep that tone.
The paint covers your whole face, so the photo needs to show all of it.
Look straight into the camera
Chin level, the whole face and hairline in frame, head-and-shoulders or waist-up.
Hair off the face
Pulled back or tucked behind the ears, so the paint reaches your forehead and cheeks.
Soft, even light
Window light or open shade. Harsh shadows break up the linework.
Anything over the brow or eyes
Hats, sunglasses and masks hide the area where the calavera is painted.
Smoothed or already-painted skin
Beauty filters and existing makeup leave less of your real face to follow.
Groups and pets
This template paints one person. Crop to your own face before you upload.
Someone else's photo without asking
Upload your own photo, or one of an adult who agreed.
That death comes for everyone, rich or poor. La Catrina began as a satirical etching by the Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada, dated around 1910–12, mocking people who put on European airs. Diego Rivera later painted her full-length in a famous mural, and she became the best-known face of Día de Muertos.
It can be, when you treat it as a celebration rather than a costume. As a Mexico News Daily writer put it in 2023, anyone can paint their face as a skull if it's done with respect: keep it away from horror props, and take a moment to learn what the days mean. These portraits stay festive for that reason.
No. Halloween on October 31 is about costumes and scares. Día de Muertos on November 1 and 2 is a family celebration that welcomes back loved ones who have died, with ofrendas, marigolds, candles and their favorite food. The two fall in the same week, which is why this portrait sits beside Halloween templates, but it carries no horror elements.
November 1 and 2 every year, and some towns begin on October 31. Catrina portraits show up from the last week of October through November 2, so make yours a few days ahead.
They overlap. Sugar skulls, or calaveras de azúcar, are the decorated candy skulls placed on altars, and the face paint borrows their patterns. La Catrina is the elegant skeleton lady with her hat and dress. These portraits paint a sugar skull face and dress you in La Catrina's style.
Usually, yes. The paint is drawn around your own eyes, brows, smile and hairline, so the face underneath stays yours. A sharp, front-facing photo in even light gives the most recognizable result; if one look drifts, try another.
Yes. The face paint works on any face. The outfits follow La Catrina, with hats, lace, veils and flowers; a Catrín's top hat and suit aren't one of the looks.
It's an AI portrait template rather than a live filter, and you can try it free. New accounts get 10 credits, enough for 3 portraits at 1K; after that a portrait costs 3, 4 or 5 credits at 1K, 2K or 4K, shown on the Generate button.
One selfie, three looks, ready to share for Día de Muertos.
