Passport & ID Photo Maker

How to make a passport photo

1. Pick the document the photo is for. Its rules appear straight away, and it is worth reading them first: some of them, such as no glasses, a closed mouth or a photo taken within the last month, can only be met when the picture is taken.
2. Drop in a photo of yourself looking straight at the camera, in soft even light, in front of a plain light wall, with some space above your head and your shoulders in the shot. The page finds your face and frames it for the size you chose.
3. Check the preview. Your chin should rest on the solid line and the top of your head should land inside the shaded band. When the detection is slightly off, drag the photo, zoom or straighten it until everything lines up.
4. Press Make passport photo. The single photo downloads at its exact pixel size, and Download print sheet gives you a 4 × 6 inch sheet with as many copies as will fit, ready for a photo printing service.

What people use it for

Most visitors want to skip a trip to a photo booth, or need a digital copy alongside the prints.

• Renewing a US passport by post, or adding the square image to an online US visa form.
• Paper passport forms in the UK, where two identical printed photos go in the envelope.
• A Schengen visa appointment that asks for a 35 × 45 mm print.
• Student cards, gym memberships and work badges, using Custom size with the measurements the organisation gives you.
• Checking the framing of a photo you already have before paying for prints.

Good to know

The automatic framing is an estimate. Eyes and chin are located quite reliably, but the top of your head is inferred from your proportions, so a lot of hair, a hat or a tilted head can push it out; check the guides every time. Nothing here can judge lighting, focus, shadows or your expression; those depend on the original shot. If the frame runs past the edge of your picture, that strip is filled with plain colour, so a photo taken from a little further back works better. Replacing the background is an edit, and some offices refuse edited photos, so a light wall behind you remains the safer route. iPhone photos that will not open can be converted first with HEIC to JPG.

A face is biometric data, and it should stay with you. Face detection and the optional background model run on your own device: the models are downloaded to your browser, and the photo itself is never sent anywhere. When you print the sheet, choose actual size (100 %, not "fit to page"), then measure one copy with a ruler before you cut.

Questions people ask

Will my photo be accepted?

Only the office handling your application can decide that. This page makes the exact size and helps you place your head within the published measurements; the lighting, expression, glasses and how recent the photo is are up to you. Read the official rules linked above the preview before submitting.

Can I print the sheet at home?

You can, on photo paper at 100 % scale, but a high-street or online photo lab usually gives sharper, more accurate results, and the UK asks for a professional-standard print. US copies fill a 4 × 6 sheet edge to edge, so that one needs borderless printing without enlarging. Either way, measure a copy before cutting it out.

Why is there no Canadian passport option?

Canada requires passport photos to be taken in person by a commercial photographer, who adds the studio details and the date, and it rejects altered photos. A photo made at home would be refused, so we do not offer that size.

What about applications made online?

The single photo is a small JPG, and for the US it is the 600 × 600 pixel square that visa forms ask for. The UK online service is different: it wants your uncropped photo and does the cropping itself. If a form sets a file-size limit, Compress Image can bring the file down without changing its dimensions.