Can I take a passport photo at home?

Yes. No authority requires a professional photographer for a standard passport or visa photo. What they require is that the photo meets the published rules on size, background, lighting and expression. Stand a metre in front of a plain light wall, face a window, have someone shoot from about 1.5 metres, and check the result here before you submit it.

What size is a US passport photo?

2 x 2 inches, which is 51 x 51 mm, square. Your head must measure 25 to 35 mm from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, and your eyes must sit 28 to 35 mm above the bottom edge. For the online renewal upload the file must be a square JPEG between 600 x 600 and 1200 x 1200 pixels, and at least 54 KB.

What size is a UK passport photo?

35 x 45 mm for a printed photo, with the head 29 to 34 mm from chin to crown, on a plain cream or light grey background. The digital version needs to be at least 600 x 750 pixels. Neutral expression with the mouth closed.

What size is a Türkiye biometric photo?

50 x 60 mm on a plain white background with no pattern and no shadow, taken within the last six months. Note that Turkish civil registry offices take a printed photo, so a digital file alone is not enough: print the sheet and take it with you. A wrong size or background means the application cannot be completed, or the card fails quality control later.

Can I use AI or a filter on my passport photo?

No, and for the United States it is now actively screened. Since 1 January 2026 the State Department automatically rejects photos altered with software, apps, filters or AI, including background replacement and lighting correction. Other authorities are moving the same way. Cropping and resizing to the required dimensions is not an alteration and remains fine.

Can I smile in a passport photo?

It depends on the country. The US accepts a natural closed-mouth smile. The UK, the Schengen states and most others require a strictly neutral expression with the mouth closed. This tool applies the rule for the document you selected rather than one blanket answer.

Not for a US passport or visa. Glasses have not been accepted there since 2016, even clear ones. Most other authorities allow them if your eyes are fully visible, the frames do not cover them and there is no glare on the lenses. If you can take them off, take them off.

Can I print passport photos at home?

Yes, on photo paper with a colour printer. The important part is printing at 100 percent or actual size and never fit to page, which silently rescales the sheet. Our print sheet is laid out at true physical dimensions with cut lines and carries that reminder in the footer. A 4 x 6 inch sheet holds two US photos or six 35 x 45 mm ones.

Is my photo accepted for certain?

No tool can promise that, and you should be suspicious of any that does. We check every rule we can measure and show you the number against the allowed range, and we tell you honestly when something will not pass. Final acceptance is always decided by the issuing authority.

What happens to my photo?

Nothing leaves your device. The face and background analysis runs in your browser, the cropped file is produced there too, and no image is ever sent to us, stored, or used to train anything. That is also why the tool works with no account.

Can I take a passport photo of a baby?

Yes. Turn on the baby option before you upload. Infants may have their eyes closed or partly open and their expression is not judged, but nobody else may appear in the frame, including a hand supporting them. Lay the baby on a plain white sheet and shoot from directly above with even light.

Can I wear a headscarf or religious head covering?

Yes. A head covering worn daily for religious or medical reasons is accepted, as long as your face is fully visible from the bottom of the chin to the forehead and the covering casts no shadow across your face. Our checks never fail a photo for a headscarf.

Free Passport Photo Maker

Upload a photo and get a print ready passport, visa or ID photo in seconds. Cropped, resized and adjusted to the official format.

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51 mm

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Which document is this photo for?

Every country measures differently. Pick yours and we will use its published rules.

Your photo is measured in your browser and never leaves your device. We do not upload it, store it, or use it to train anything.

We are not affiliated with any government agency. We prepare your photo using published requirements. Final acceptance is always decided by the issuing authority.

You do not need a photographer for a document photo. Pick your country, add a photo from your phone, and the tool crops it to the exact size the authority publishes, sets the head height and eye line inside the required range, puts you on the plain background the document asks for and evens out the lighting.

You get the digital file at the exact pixel size the online portal expects, plus a print sheet laid out at true physical size with cut lines, so a pharmacy or your own printer produces the right dimensions. A pharmacy counter charges around 17 dollars for the same thing.

How it works

Pick your document
A US passport, a Schengen visa and a Turkish biometric photo are three different sizes with three different head measurements. Choose yours and we apply that authority's published rules, with a link to the source.
Add a photo
Upload from your camera roll or shoot one on your phone. It is read and measured in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, so there is no upload to wait for and nothing of yours to store.
Read the check
You get every measurement next to its allowed range: head height, eye line, tilt, background, sharpness, expression. Green means it passes. Anything else comes with a plain sentence about what to change.
Download and print
Get the exact pixel size the portal expects, plus a print sheet laid out at true physical size with cut lines. Take it to a pharmacy or print it at home at 100 percent.

Passport photo size by country

The single most common mistake is assuming one size fits all. It does not, and the head measurement differs even where the paper size looks similar. These are the published requirements we build each preset from.

Photo size

US passport & visa: 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm)
UK passport: 35 x 45 mm
Schengen visa: 35 x 45 mm
Türkiye biometric: 50 x 60 mm
Canada passport: 50 x 70 mm

Head height

US passport & visa: 25 to 35 mm
UK passport: 29 to 34 mm
Schengen visa: 70 to 80% of height
Türkiye biometric: 70 to 80% of height
Canada passport: 31 to 36 mm

Why passport photos get rejected

The reasons are boringly consistent, and most of them are decided the moment you press the shutter rather than afterwards. Fixing the shot beats fixing the file.

The background is not plain enough
The largest single cause. A patterned wall, a door frame, a bookshelf edge or a colour that reads too dark all count. Stand in front of one flat, light, unbroken surface.
The head is the wrong size in the frame
Authorities measure from the chin to the top of your head in millimetres, not by eye. A head a few millimetres too large or too small is a rejection, and it is the thing you cannot judge yourself. This is what the tool solves.
There is a shadow behind you
Standing close to a wall throws a shadow that reads as a non-plain background. Step a metre away from it and face a window.
The file is the wrong size or format
Online portals reject on bytes and pixels before a human ever looks. The US digital upload, for example, wants a square JPEG between 600 and 1200 pixels and at least 54 KB.
The photo looks edited
Beauty filters, skin smoothing, AI backgrounds and even a phone's default portrait mode can flag a photo as altered. Turn HDR and portrait mode off before you shoot.
The expression or the eyes are wrong
Mouth closed, eyes open and clearly visible, looking straight at the lens. The US accepts a closed-mouth smile. Most other authorities do not.

Since January 2026, editing a US passport photo gets it rejected
The US State Department now screens submissions automatically and refuses photos altered with software, phone apps, filters or AI. The prohibition names background editing, skin smoothing, lighting correction and colour filters, and the screening runs before a human ever sees the file. This matters because a lot of tools still advertise AI background removal for US passport photos. That is now the thing that gets you rejected. Their official advice is to retake against a real plain, light wall rather than swap the background digitally. So for US documents this tool only crops, scales and converts your file, and it will tell you honestly when your original will not pass. For Schengen, Türkiye, Canada and other authorities that do not screen this way, background cleanup is available and switched on.

The terms on your application form

01
Biometric photo
A photo that meets the ICAO Doc 9303 standard so a machine can read your face reliably: full face, front on, neutral expression, plain light background, even lighting.
02
Head height
The distance from the bottom of your chin to the top of your head, measured in millimetres on the printed photo. Every authority publishes a range, and they do not agree with each other.
03
Eye line
How far your eyes sit above the bottom edge of the photo. The US, for example, wants them 28 to 35 mm up on a 51 mm photo.
04
ICAO Doc 9303
The international standard behind every machine readable passport. Most national rules are a local variation of it, which is why 35 x 45 mm appears so often.
05
Digital upload file
The version an online portal accepts, defined in pixels and bytes rather than millimetres. It is usually a different file from the one you print.
06
Print sheet
A page with several copies of your photo laid out at true physical size with cut lines, so a photo lab or a home printer produces the right dimensions.

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