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Guide7 min read

How to make a passport photo at home

Most home-made passport photos go wrong in the same few ways: shadows, a busy background, the head too small or large, or a print that isn't to scale. This guide covers the general preparation. Your government's official rules always come first.

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1. Take the photo

  • Background: stand in front of a plain, light wall with nothing behind you — no patterns, doors or picture frames. Leave a little distance so you don't cast a shadow on it.
  • Light: face a window in daylight, or use two lamps either side of the camera. Light from one side leaves half the face in shadow; light from above darkens the eyes.
  • Camera: ask someone else to take it, with the camera at eye level and a metre or two away, zoomed in slightly rather than standing close — close-ups distort the face.
  • You: face the camera straight on, eyes open, mouth closed, neutral expression, hair away from the face. Check whether your authority allows glasses; many don't.
  • Take several, at the camera's full resolution, and pick the sharpest.

2. Size it

  1. Open the Passport Photo MakerThe Passport Photo Maker has presets for common sizes such as 35 × 45 mm and 2 × 2 inches, and a custom size for anything else. The photo stays in your browser.
  2. Choose the size from the official rulesUse a preset only after confirming it matches your document's requirements, or enter the exact width and height the rules give.
  3. Position your headZoom and move the photo so your head sits at the size and height the rules specify. The tool gets the dimensions right; it does not measure your head or check your pose.
  4. DownloadThe photo is produced at print resolution — 600 DPI by default — with the DPI written into the file, so it prints at its real size.

The background colour setting only fills areas your photo doesn't cover; it doesn't remove or replace your background. That is why the plain wall in step 1 matters.

3. Print it

  • Build a print sheet in the same tool: A4, Letter, 4 × 6 or 5 × 7 inch paper, with as many copies as fit and dashed cutting guides.
  • Print at 100% — "Actual size" in the print dialog. "Fit to page" scales the sheet and every photo comes out the wrong size.
  • Use photo paper, and check whether your authority specifies matte or glossy.
  • At a photo shop, bring the sheet as a file and ask for a 4 × 6 print at actual size, with no cropping or borders added.
  • Measure one photo with a ruler before you cut the rest.

Digital photos for online applications

Many applications now take a digital photo instead of a print, with their own pixel dimensions and a maximum file size. Size the photo to the pixels they ask for, and if the file is too large, the Image Compressor can aim for a target such as 240 KB. Don't print a photo and scan it back in — every generation loses sharpness.

Why home-made photos get rejected

  • Shadows on the face or behind the head.
  • A background that isn't plain or is the wrong colour.
  • The head too small or too large in the frame, or tilted.
  • Glare on glasses, or glasses where they aren't allowed.
  • A print scaled by the printer, so the photo is the wrong size.
  • Blur, low resolution, filters or retouching.
Passport Photo MakerProduce passport and visa photos at the exact millimetre size and DPI, tiled onto printable paper.ID Photo MakerBuild ID card, badge and residence permit photos from a custom size, background and copy count.

Common questions

Usually, yes — the requirements are about the result, not the camera. Use the rear camera, have someone else take it, and check the rules for your document.

It depends on the country. 35 × 45 mm is common in many countries and the US uses 2 × 2 inches, but always confirm the size, and the head-size rules, with the issuing authority.

The tool makes the size and print resolution exact, but acceptance also depends on lighting, background, pose and expression, which it doesn't check. Follow your authority's rules closely.

Tools in this article

Passport Photo MakerProduce passport and visa photos at the exact millimetre size and DPI, tiled onto printable paper.ID Photo MakerBuild ID card, badge and residence permit photos from a custom size, background and copy count.Image CompressorShrink JPG, PNG and WebP files by quality or to an exact target size, with a side-by-side quality check.Image CropperCrop freely or to a fixed ratio, rotate, straighten, flip and export at exact output dimensions.

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