How to make passport-size photos at home

Passport-size photos are needed for far more than passports: admission forms, ID cards, exam applications, bank accounts, visas and club memberships. A studio is the safe choice for official passport and visa applications with strict rules, but for many everyday forms you can make a good passport-size photo at home with your phone.

What you need

• A phone with a decent camera (the rear camera is usually sharper than the front one)
• A plain, light-coloured wall or a white sheet hung without creases
• Soft daylight, ideally from a window in front of you
• Someone to take the photo, or a phone stand and a timer

Step 1: Get the light right

Face a window so daylight falls evenly on your face. Avoid direct sunlight, which causes squinting and harsh shadows, and avoid overhead room lights, which put shadows under your eyes. Turn off the flash: it creates shine on skin and glare on glasses. Stand a little away from the wall so your own shadow does not fall behind you.

Step 2: Pose like an ID photo

• Look straight into the camera with your head level, not tilted.
• Keep a neutral expression with your mouth closed, unless the instructions allow a smile.
• Keep your face fully visible; push hair away from your eyes and face.
• Remove glasses if the instructions ask you to, or if they cause glare.
• Wear plain clothing that contrasts with the background. Avoid white on a white background.

Step 3: Take the photo

The photographer should stand about one to one and a half metres away, at your eye level, and zoom in slightly rather than standing very close (close-up shots distort the face). Take several photos and pick the sharpest one with open eyes and even light. Leave space around your head and shoulders so you can crop later.

Step 4: Clean up the background

Even a plain wall can look grey or patchy in a photo. Many forms ask for a white or light background. You can use an editing tool to replace the background with clean white. Look closely at the edges of your hair and shoulders afterwards; a rough cut-out looks unnatural and may be rejected.

Step 5: Crop to the right size and shape

Crop the photo to the shape your form asks for, for example 35 × 45 mm (a tall rectangle) or 2 × 2 inches (a square). Many specifications also say how much of the frame your head should fill. Keep your face centred, with a little space above your head.

If the photo is for an online form, you may also need to reduce the file size, for example to 50 KB. See how to resize a photo to 20 KB or 50 KB.

Step 6: Print several on one sheet

Printing one tiny photo is wasteful. Instead, arrange several copies on a standard 4 × 6 inch photo print sheet and print it at any photo shop or with a home photo printer. Make sure the print is set to "actual size" (no "fit to page"), otherwise every photo comes out the wrong size. Cut along the edges with a ruler and a sharp blade for clean results.

Make it easier with Stash-it!

Stash-it! is a free Android app with tools for forms and paperwork. Its Passport photo tool gives you a photo with a clean white background, and Photo print sheet lays out your passport photos on one sheet ready to print. For online forms, Exact size for forms and Compress to a size help you meet the size limit.

Your photos stay on your phone, with no sign-up and no ads. Tools use a few Stash coins: you get 25 free every morning and the first use of every tool is free. The app is available in English and Hindi.

Common mistakes

• Shadows on the face or background from overhead lights
• Selfie distortion from holding the phone too close
• Tilted head or looking slightly away from the lens
• Printing at the wrong scale because "fit to page" was on
• Heavy filters or beauty effects, which many authorities do not accept

Checklist

• Even light, no shadows, no flash glare
• Plain background in the colour the form asks for
• Straight, neutral pose, face fully visible
• Cropped to the exact size and shape required
• Printed at actual size, or compressed for upload

Need to attach your photo to other documents? Read how to merge PDFs on Android.