Answer · Eye area
How far apart should your eyes be?
By the usual rule, the gap between the inner corners of the eyes is about one eye wide. That comes from the facial fifths, which divide the face width into five equal parts, one eye each. Real faces cluster around it, and moderate departures either way are barely noticed. There is no single correct spacing.
Eye shape, spacing and the surrounding frame.
Explore eye areaWhere the rule comes from
Portrait drawing divides the face into facial fifths: one eye, the gap between the eyes, the other eye, and a fifth on each side out to the edge of the face. In that scheme the gap equals one eye width. Clinicians compare the same two things, the distance between the inner corners and the width of the eye opening. Forums use a second version, the eye separation ratio, which compares the distance between the pupils with the width of the face at the cheekbones. Both ask how much of the face's width sits between the eyes.
| Band | What it means | How it tends to read |
|---|---|---|
| Close-set | Gap clearly narrower than one eye | Focused, intense |
| Balanced | Gap about one eye wide | The ordinary case |
| Wide-set | Gap clearly wider than one eye | Open, youthful |
Does spacing affect attractiveness?
Through averageness, not through an ideal number. Faces close to the population average are rated as more attractive than faces far from it, and eye spacing matters as one part of that. Slightly wide-set eyes are common among fashion models and are often read as youthful; slightly close-set eyes are often read as intense. Forums treat both ends as flaws, which the evidence does not support. In real ratings, spacing is a modest factor next to skin, sleep and the under-eye area, and it is read together with the rest of the face: the same gap looks different beside a wide nose or a narrow one.
How to check yours
Look at a photo taken at eye level and ask whether a third eye would fit in the gap between your inner corners. Clearly yes with room to spare is wide-set; clearly not is close-set. A phone held close is a wide-angle lens, which enlarges the centre of the face and shifts the ratio, so hold the camera at arm's length. The eye spacing test makes the same comparison with landmarks and reports a band. Spacing is set by the bone of the orbits; can eye spacing be changed? covers what framing does instead. For the absolute pupil distance used in glasses, see does pupillary distance change with age?.