Make a Passport Size Photo at Home: Sizes, Tips and Printing
In this article
A passport-size photo from a studio is quick, but you often need more copies, a digital version for an online form, or a photo at a size the studio didn’t give you. With the free passport size photo maker you can make a correctly sized photo from any good picture at home, and print a full sheet of copies for a few rupees at a local photo shop.
Standard photo sizes
| Use | Size |
|---|---|
| India passport and visa forms | 35 × 45 mm |
| UK and Schengen visa | 35 × 45 mm |
| US passport and visa | 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) |
| Canada | 50 × 70 mm |
| Square photos for some forms | 50 × 50 mm |
| Stamp size | 25 × 35 mm |
All of these are available as presets. Rules about head size, expression, glasses and background differ between authorities and change from time to time, so always check the current official requirements before submitting. For Indian passports, the photo is often taken at the Passport Seva Kendra itself — check what your appointment requires.
Step 1: Take a good photo
- Light: stand facing a window in daylight. Avoid overhead lights that cast shadows under the eyes.
- Background: a plain light-coloured wall works best.
- Pose: look straight at the camera, neutral expression, mouth closed, both ears visible if possible.
- Distance: have someone take the photo from about 1–1.5 metres away at eye level. Selfies distort the face.
- Clothing: darker clothes stand out better against a white background.
Step 2: Make the photo
- Open the passport photo maker and choose your photo.
- Pick the size preset, for example India passport / visa (35 × 45 mm).
- Position the crop: the head and top of the shoulders should fill most of the frame, with the eyes roughly a third of the way down.
- Adjust brightness and contrast if needed, and optionally replace the background with white.
- Choose 300 DPI (recommended) and how many copies you want, then create the photo.
You get two files: the single photo at the exact size, for online forms, and a print sheet with several copies.
Step 3: Print it correctly
Choose the print sheet that matches the paper:
- 4 × 6 inch photo paper — the standard photo print size at any photo shop. Eight 35 × 45 mm copies fit on one sheet.
- A4 paper — for printing at home on glossy photo paper.
The most important instruction: print at 100% scale (“actual size”), not “fit to page”. Fit-to-page enlarges or shrinks the sheet, and the photos come out the wrong size. Tell the photo shop the same thing.
Background replacement
If your wall isn’t plain, the background can be replaced with white (or another colour) in the browser. It works best with good lighting and a clear outline around the head; fine hair against a busy background may need a plainer wall. The first time you use it, your browser downloads a small model of about 4 MB. Your photo itself is never uploaded.
Photos for online forms
Online applications often need a small file — for example 20–50 KB. Run the single photo through the image compressor with a target size. Our guide to getting a photo under 50 KB explains the details.
Privacy
All processing — cropping, background replacement and the print sheet — happens in your browser. Your photo stays on your device.
