With a modern smartphone and some care, you can take a photo at home that meets official requirements, and save yourself a trip to a pharmacy or photo booth, and the fee.
What you'll need
- A smartphone with a decent rear camera (12 MP or higher is ideal)
- Good natural light or a bright indoor space
- A plain white, off-white, or light grey backdrop
- A chair or stool (so someone can photograph you at eye level)
- A helper, or a tripod and self-timer
Step 1: Set up the background
Find a plain wall in your home, or tape a large white or light grey poster board to a wall. The background needs to be completely free of patterns, objects, or shadows. Stand at least 1 metre (3 feet) away from the background to prevent your shadow from falling on it.
Good backgrounds are a white door, a light grey wall, a white bedsheet (pulled tight to avoid wrinkles) or a foam board from a craft store.
Step 2: Get the lighting right
Lighting matters more than anything else. Bad lighting puts shadows on the face and background, which is the most common reason for rejection.
- Best option: Sit facing a large window with soft, diffuse natural light
- Avoid direct sunlight, which causes harsh shadows and squinting
- Indoors: Use two light sources on either side of your face to eliminate shadows
- Never use the camera flash: it causes red-eye and harsh shadows from the front
- Overcast days give the flat, even light that passport photos need
Step 3: Position yourself
Sit or stand up straight, facing forward. The camera should be at eye level, not angled up or down: looking slightly up or down distorts the face and can get the photo rejected.
- Face the camera directly, without angling or turning
- Keep your shoulders level and relaxed
- Look directly into the lens, not at the screen
- Eyes should be open and visible
- Adopt the required expression for your country (neutral for UK, natural for US)
Step 4: Take the photo
Ask your helper to stand far enough back that your full head and upper shoulders are visible, then crop later. Take at least 10 photos. It costs nothing, and you can pick the best one. Use portrait mode only if it doesn't blur the background in a way that creates artefacts.
Check each photo immediately: zoom in to check sharpness, verify there are no shadows on the background, and confirm your expression and eye position look right.
Step 5: Check the photo
- Is the background plain white, off-white, or light grey?
- Is your face evenly lit with no shadows?
- Are both eyes clearly visible?
- Is the photo sharp and in focus?
- Is your head size and position within the required range?
- No red-eye?
Step 6: Crop and resize
Once you have a good photo, crop and resize it to the dimensions your country requires. These differ: the US uses a 2×2 inch square, the UK a 35×45 mm portrait format, and so on.
In CropPass, upload your photo and pick your country to get a correctly sized, cropped image. You need no account, and the photo is processed in your browser instead of being uploaded to a server.