How to make a passport photo
- Take a photo against a plain light wall, facing the camera, with even light and no shadows, then drop it in, choose it or paste it.
- Pick the country and document. Drag the photo and zoom until the chin sits on the Chin line and the top of the head falls in the shaded band; straighten it if it's tilted.
- Download the photo to upload online, or the 4 × 6 in sheet to print at a photo shop or at home.
Official rules for each size
Each size follows the government’s published photo rules. Always check the current page before you print, as rules change:
- US passport and visa, 2 × 2 in: head 1 to 1 3/8 inches from chin to top of head, eyes 1 1/8 to 1 3/8 inches above the bottom of the photo. U.S. Department of State: passport photos.
- UK passport, 35 × 45 mm: head 29 to 34 mm from chin to crown. GOV.UK: photo requirements.
- Schengen visa and EU, 35 × 45 mm: Germany, for example, asks for a face 32 to 36 mm high, centred, with a neutral expression. Other EU countries use the same 35 × 45 mm format with similar rules, but check your own country’s or consulate’s page. German Consulate General Hong Kong: biometric photos (PDF).
- Canada passport, 50 × 70 mm: face 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown. Government of Canada: passport photos.
- China visa, 33 × 48 mm: head 28 to 33 mm high and 15 to 22 mm wide, on a white background. Chinese Visa Application Service Center: photo requirements.
Many online applications (such as a UK passport renewal) take a digital photo straight from your phone instead of a print. Those systems have their own upload rules, so use them as they ask.
Taking a photo that passes
- Background. Stand about half a metre in front of a plain white, cream or light grey wall. This tool doesn’t change the background, because passport offices reject photos that have been edited.
- Light. Face a window or use soft light from in front, so there are no shadows on your face or behind you.
- Distance. Ask someone else to take it from about 1.5 metres away at eye level, then zoom in here. Selfies taken at arm’s length distort the face, and some countries don’t accept them.
- Expression. Look straight at the camera with a neutral expression and your mouth closed. Keep hair away from your eyes.
- Size. Use the original photo from your phone or camera. A small or heavily compressed image prints soft; the tool warns you when a photo has too few pixels.
Why 300 DPI matters
A photo file has pixels, not millimetres. The print size comes from the resolution: at 300 dots per inch, 600 pixels print as 2 inches. Every photo and sheet made here has 300 DPI written into the file, so photo labs and printers print it at the correct size without scaling. If a lab asks for a 4 × 6 print, the sheet is already exactly 1800 × 1200 pixels.