Passport photo maker

How it works

1. Drop a portrait taken from the front, in even light, with space above the head and around the shoulders. A phone photo against a plain wall is enough.
2. Choose the standard. Each one carries its own picture size and head height: Schengen, the UK, Japan, Korea and Australia are 35x45 mm, the US and India 2x2 inches, China 33x48 mm and Canada 50x70 mm.
3. Choose a background if the wall behind you will not do. The photo is cut out with the same model the background remover uses, then set on a plain colour.
4. Press Make photo. The face is found first, then the top of the hair, and the picture is scaled so the head measures what the rules ask for and sits at the right height in the frame.
5. Download the JPG. It is 300 dpi with that resolution written into the file, so a print shop or an online form gets the size right: 413x531 pixels for 35x45 mm, 600x600 for 2x2 inches.

Frequently asked questions

How does it know how tall my head is?

It measures it. The face detector's box ends at the chin, which is the bottom of the measurement every standard uses; the top comes from the cut-out model, whose outline of you includes your hair, so the first row of hair above the face is the crown. The distance between the two is the head height, and the photo is scaled until that height matches the rule.

Will my application be accepted?

This gets the measurements right, which is what most photos are rejected for, but it cannot judge the rest. Expression, open eyes, glasses, head covering, shadows on the face or the background, and how recent the photo is are all part of the rules and all down to the photo you start from. Check your own authority's page before you send it: the numbers here were correct when the tool was written and they do change.

Which sizes does it make?

35x45 mm for Schengen and the EU, the UK, Japan, South Korea and Australia; 2x2 inches for the United States and India; 33x48 mm for China; 50x70 mm for Canada. Head height follows each one separately: 32-36 mm on a 45 mm picture for Schengen, Japan, South Korea and Australia, 29-34 mm for the UK, 28-33 mm for China, 31-36 mm for Canada, and 25-35 mm on a 51 mm picture for the US and India. The tool aims for the middle of the range, so a small error either way still lands inside it.

Why did it say there is not enough room?

Because the picture it needs to cut would run off the edge of your photo. That happens when the head nearly fills the frame or sits close to a side. Step back, or hold the camera further away, and leave space above the head and beside both shoulders; the tool needs that space to place the head at the right height. The other refusal is No face found, which means the detector could not see a face at all: use a photo taken from the front, in even light, with the face unobstructed.

Can I change the background to white?

Yes, choose White, pale blue or light grey and the photo is cut out and set on that colour. Note that some authorities do not accept a photo whose background was replaced rather than photographed, so if yours is strict, shoot against a plain light wall and keep the photo's own background.

Do I get a sheet to print?

Not from this tool: it makes one photo at the exact size. To print several on one sheet of photo paper, put the result into the ID photo sheet tool, which lays them out on 4x6 inch or A4 paper with cutting guides.

Is my photo uploaded?

No. The face detector and the cut-out model both run in your browser, and the photo never leaves your device. The models are 0.23 MB and 13 MB, about 16 MB together with the runtime that runs them, downloaded once and kept by the browser.

What are the free limits?

The free plan handles 3 images per run, 20 MB each and 10 runs per day. Pro removes these limits.