How to Make a Passport-Size Photo at Home

Passport, visa, ID card, exam registration, job application — most of them want a photo to precise specifications, and a rejected photo can mean a rejected application. A studio will do it for you, but with a phone and a few minutes you can produce something that meets the requirements perfectly well.

The important thing is that these photos are judged against a checklist. Get the checklist right and it passes; miss one item and it doesn't.

Find the exact requirements first

Requirements vary by country and document type, so always check the official page for the specific application you're making. What you're looking for:

• Physical size — commonly 35 × 45 mm, or 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) for US-style photos
• Pixel dimensions — for digital submission, e.g. 600 × 600
• Head height — usually expressed as a proportion, e.g. the head should occupy 70–80% of the frame height
• Background colour — plain white, off-white or light blue
• Maximum file size

Write these down before you start. Almost every rejection comes from one of these being wrong.

Taking the photo

The background

Stand about a metre away from a plain, light-coloured wall. The distance matters — standing right against the wall casts a hard shadow behind you, and visible shadows are a common rejection reason.

If you don't have a plain wall, hang a white sheet, or shoot against whatever is cleanest and replace the background afterwards.

The lighting

Face a window with soft daylight. You want even light across your whole face, no shadow on one side, and no shadow behind you. Turn the room lights off so you don't mix colour temperatures. Never use flash.

The camera position

• Camera at eye level — not below (unflattering and non-compliant) and not above
• Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera — it's sharper and doesn't distort your face
• Have someone take it from about 1.5–2 metres away, or use a tripod and timer
• Leave plenty of space around your head; you'll crop precisely afterwards

Your pose and expression

• Face the camera squarely — head not tilted or turned
• Neutral expression, mouth closed. Most countries do not allow smiling
• Both eyes open and clearly visible, looking straight at the lens
• Hair off your face — nothing covering the eyes or the outline of your face
• Plain clothing; avoid white if the background is white or you'll blend in
• Remove glasses. Many countries now require this outright, and where allowed, no glare or tinted lenses
• Head coverings are generally permitted for religious reasons, but the full face from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead must be visible

Editing it to specification

Step 1: Fix the background if needed

If your wall isn't clean, plain white, use a background remover and place yourself on a plain colour:

Remove the background, choose the white swatch (or light blue if that's specified), and check the edges around your hair. Adjust the edge cleanup control if you see a faint outline of the old background — but don't push it so far that hair starts disappearing.

Step 2: Crop to the right proportions

This is where most home-made photos fail. For a 35 × 45 mm photo, the ratio is roughly 7:9. For a 2 × 2 inch photo, it's a perfect square.

Get the framing right by eye against these rules:

• Head centred left to right
• Head height (chin to crown) around 70–80% of the total photo height
• A small gap of background above the top of the head — the head should not touch the edge
• Eyes roughly 55–60% of the way up from the bottom

Use the Image Editor's crop presets to get the shape right, then check the proportions above.

Step 3: Set dimensions and file size

If the form specifies pixel dimensions, match them exactly. If it only specifies a physical size for printing, a good rule is 600 pixels per inch of final print — so a 35 × 45 mm photo works out at roughly 826 × 1,062 pixels.

Then compress to fit under the file size limit. Start at 85% quality and only reduce further if you must — an over-compressed photo can be rejected for lack of clarity.

The checklist before you submit

• Plain, evenly lit background with no shadow
• Neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes visible
• Face square to the camera, head not tilted
• Head fills roughly 70–80% of the frame height
• Correct aspect ratio and pixel dimensions
• No glasses, no hat (unless religious and face fully visible)
• Sharp, in focus, no motion blur
• Natural skin tone — no filters, no beauty smoothing, no heavy editing
• File size under the stated limit
• Correct format, usually JPG

What gets photos rejected most often

1. Shadow on the background — stand further from the wall
2. Smiling — surprisingly common and an automatic fail in many countries
3. Head too small in the frame — people crop too loosely
4. Selfie-camera distortion — the nose looks larger; use the rear camera
5. Filters or smoothing — automated checks detect this and reject it
6. Wrong aspect ratio — squeezing a square photo into a rectangle distorts the face

Take a few versions, check each one against the list, and submit the one that passes every item. It takes ten minutes and saves a rejected application.