How to take a photo that gets accepted
The size is the easy part – most rejected passport photos fail on how they were taken. Before you crop anything here, take the picture properly:
- Plain, light background: cream or light grey for the UK, white or off-white for the US. No patterns, shadows or other people.
- Face the camera straight on, mouth closed, neutral expression, eyes open and clearly visible – no hair over your eyes.
- Even light: stand facing a window rather than with it behind you, so there are no shadows on your face or the wall.
- No filters or beauty modes and no glasses (the UK and US both ask you to remove them).
- Ask someone else to take it from about 1.5 metres away – a selfie at arm's length distorts the face.
Sizes this tool makes
- UK passport: 35 mm wide by 45 mm high, head 29–34 mm from chin to crown (GOV.UK photo rules).
- Schengen and most EU visas: 35 × 45 mm, the international ICAO passport size.
- US passport or visa: 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm), head 1 to 1⅜ inches (US State Department).
- Canada passport: 50 mm wide by 70 mm high, face 31–36 mm from chin to crown (Government of Canada).
- Custom: any size from 20 to 100 mm for other countries – check that country's own rules first.
Rules change, so read the official page for your application before sending a photo. Sizes last checked on 14 November 2026.
Worked example: for a UK passport photo the tool makes a JPG of 413 × 531 pixels (35 × 45 mm at 300 dots per inch). On a 6 × 4 inch print it fits 8 copies – 4 across and 2 down with thin grey cutting lines – so one print costing a few pence at a supermarket kiosk gives you spares for visas and ID cards too.
Online applications
If you apply for a UK passport online, GOV.UK asks for a digital photo rather than a printed one. You can upload the JPG from this tool, but GOV.UK's own checker has the final say on background and lighting.
Privacy
Your photo is cropped in your browser and never uploaded to us – nothing is stored.