How to Make a Passport Photo at Home
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A passport or ID photo is a simple picture with strict rules. With a phone, a plain wall and daylight you can take one at home, crop it to the exact size and print a sheet of copies for the price of one photo print.
Check the rules for your document
Sizes differ. Many countries use 35 by 45 mm. The United States uses 2 by 2 inches. Vietnam uses 4 by 6 cm. The required background colour, head size and how recent the photo must be also vary.
Look up the current requirements on the website of the office that issues your document before you start. The steps below help you meet them, but only that office decides whether a photo is accepted.
Take the photo
Stand about half a metre in front of a plain, light wall, facing a window, so the light falls evenly on your face and there is no shadow behind you. Avoid overhead lamps, which put shadows under the eyes.
Ask someone to take the picture from about one and a half metres away, at the height of your eyes. A selfie distorts the face and usually tilts the head.
Look straight at the camera with your head level. Most offices ask for a neutral expression with the mouth closed, and many do not allow glasses, hats or hair covering the eyes.
Leave plenty of space around your head and shoulders. The cropping comes later.
Crop it to size
- 1Open the Passport Photo Maker and choose the photo size your document needs.
- 2Add your photo. The tool finds your face and frames the picture for you.
- 3Drag the photo and use the zoom slider until your head fills the oval guide.
- 4If the background is not the required colour, choose White, Light blue, Blue or Red.
- 5Download the single photo for online applications, or the print sheet for paper ones.
Print it at the right size
The print sheet is made for 10 by 15 cm (4 by 6 inch) photo paper and holds several copies with thin cutting lines.
Print it at actual size. In the print dialog choose 100% or "actual size" and turn off any "fit to page" option, otherwise the photos come out slightly too small. A photo kiosk or print shop set to 10 by 15 cm without borders gives the same result.
Measure one printed photo with a ruler before you cut the rest.
For online applications
Online forms usually add a file size limit and sometimes a size in pixels. Download the single photo, then use the Image Compressor to bring it to the size the form asks for.