How to take a passport photo at home that gets accepted
Set up lighting and background, frame the head correctly, crop to the right size and print a photo sheet, while checking your country's official rules.
Check the official rules first
Every country sets its own passport and visa photo requirements, and they change from time to time. Rules cover the photo size, head size, background colour, expression, glasses, lighting and how recent the photo must be. Some applications are now entirely online and need a digital photo rather than a print; online portals usually give their own upload instructions, and Passport Photo Maker is aimed at printed photos. Before you take a single picture, open the official guidance from the government department or embassy handling your application. This guide explains the practical techniques that help with almost any set of rules; the official guidance always takes priority.
| Size | Often used for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) | United States passports and visas, and some other countries | Square; head height rules apply |
| 35 × 45 mm | UK, Schengen area and many other countries | Portrait; face typically fills most of the height |
| 50 × 50 mm | Some national documents and visas | Check the specific requirement |
Set up the shot
- Background: stand in front of a plain, light-coloured wall or hang a white or light grey sheet. Avoid patterns, doors and shadows. Check whether your country specifies white, off-white, cream or light grey.
- Distance: stand about half a metre to a metre in front of the background so your shadow falls behind you, not on the wall around your head.
- Light: face a window in daylight, or use two lamps either side of the camera, so both sides of your face are evenly lit with no shadows under the eyes or nose.
- Camera: ask someone else to take the photo from about 1.2–1.5 metres away, at eye level. Selfies distort facial proportions and are often rejected.
- Pose: face the camera directly, keep a neutral expression with mouth closed, eyes open and visible, and hair away from the face.
- Glasses: many countries now ask you to remove them; check the rules.
Step-by-step with Passport Photo Maker
- Take several photos following the set-up above and pick the sharpest one with the most even lighting.
- Open Passport Photo Maker and choose the photo.
- Select the size your application needs: 2 × 2 inch, 35 × 45 mm or 50 × 50 mm.
- Review the crop. The tool centres the portrait automatically; if the head is not well placed, retake the photo with your face centred in the frame and more space around it.
- Download the result: a 6 × 4 inch photo sheet, 1,800 × 1,200 pixels at 300 DPI, holding several copies of the cropped photo.
- Print the sheet as a standard 6 × 4 inch photo print, at a photo kiosk or online print service, with no cropping or fit-to-page scaling. Choose glossy or matte paper as the rules require.
- Measure the printed photo with a ruler to confirm it is exactly the required size.
Head size and framing
Most rules specify how much of the photo the head must fill, usually measured from the chin to the top of the head. For example, US guidance asks for a head height between 1 and 1 3/8 inches in a 2 × 2 inch photo, and many 35 × 45 mm specifications ask for 29–34 mm or a face filling roughly 70–80% of the photo height. Exact figures differ, so check yours.
Because the tool crops automatically around the centre, framing starts with the original photo. Take the picture with your head centred, shoulders visible and a reasonable amount of background above your head. A photo taken too close leaves no room to crop; one taken too far away leaves the head too small after cropping.
Worked example: a child's passport renewal
A parent needs a 35 × 45 mm photo of a seven-year-old. They tape a light grey sheet to a wall opposite a large window, stand the child about 60 cm in front of it, and photograph from eye level at about 1.5 metres while the child looks straight at the camera. After a dozen attempts, one photo has eyes open, a neutral expression and no shadows.
Passport Photo Maker crops it to 35 × 45 mm and lays out several copies on a 6 × 4 inch sheet, which the parent prints at a supermarket kiosk for a fraction of the cost of a studio. Measuring one photo confirms it is exactly 35 × 45 mm. Because the online application route asks for a digital photo instead, the parent keeps the original, unedited photo too and uploads that, following the portal's own instructions.
Common reasons photos are rejected
| Reason | Fix |
|---|---|
| Shadows on the face or background | Use even light from the front and move away from the wall |
| Head too small or too large | Retake with the face centred and at a suitable distance |
| Not a neutral expression | Relax the face; mouth closed |
| Photo printed at the wrong size | Print at 100% with no fit-to-page scaling, then measure |
| Edited or filtered image | Use the original photo; do not retouch or apply beauty filters |
| Background not plain | Use a plain sheet or wall; remove objects behind the head |
Backgrounds and editing
It is tempting to fix a messy background with a background remover. Some official guidance allows a plain background to be achieved digitally, while other guidance prohibits any alteration of the photo. Many authorities explicitly reject photos where the face has been retouched. The safest approach is to shoot against a genuinely plain background and avoid edits beyond cropping.
Photos of babies and young children
Most authorities relax some rules for babies and toddlers, for example eyes may not need to be fully open for newborns, but the background must still be plain and the child must be alone in the photo. A practical method is to lay the baby on their back on a plain white or light sheet and photograph from directly above, which avoids hands supporting the head appearing in the frame. Make sure no shadow from you or the camera falls across the sheet.
For toddlers, sit them in a high chair or car seat covered with a plain sheet, and have someone stand behind the camera to attract their attention so they look straight ahead. Take many photos in quick succession and choose the best one; patience is more useful than any setting. Always check the specific rules for children in your country's guidance, because the exceptions vary.
Printing at the correct size
The most common technical mistake with home passport photos is printing at the wrong scale. Home printers and print dialogs often enlarge or shrink images to fit the paper. Print the 6 × 4 inch sheet on 6 × 4 inch photo paper, or order it as a standard 6 × 4 print from a photo service, and make sure options such as fit to page or borderless expansion are switched off.
After printing, measure one photo with a ruler. If a 35 × 45 mm photo measures 33 × 42 mm, the print was scaled and will be rejected. Also check the print quality: photos must be sharp and free of ink streaks or banding, and printed on proper photo paper rather than ordinary office paper. Professional kiosks and online labs usually produce the most consistent results.
Final checks before you submit
Go through this list with the printed photo in your hand. If any item fails, retaking the photo costs a few minutes, while a rejected application can cost weeks. When the stakes are high, such as an urgent travel date, consider a professional photo service that guarantees compliance.
- The photo was taken recently, within the period your rules allow, often the last six months, and looks like you today.
- Face is centred, looking straight at the camera, with a neutral expression and both eyes visible.
- No shadows on the face or background; background is plain and the colour your rules require.
- Head size and the photo dimensions measure correctly on the print.
- No glasses, hats or head coverings unless your rules permit them, for example for religious or medical reasons.
- The print is sharp, undamaged and on photo paper, with no creases or marks.
Summary
Read the official rules, photograph against a plain light background in even daylight from about a metre and a half away, crop with Passport Photo Maker to the required size, print the 6 × 4 inch sheet without scaling and measure the result. Done carefully, a home passport photo is cheaper and more convenient than a studio visit, and just as acceptable.
Privacy
Passport photos are biometric images used to identify you. Passport Photo Maker crops and lays out the photo in your browser, so the image is not uploaded to MyFileNest. Delete spare digital copies you do not need, and be cautious about uploading ID photos to services you do not know.