Passport Photo MakerFind out what would get your photo rejected, before you send it

No. A neutral expression with the mouth closed is what the biometric standard asks for, because a smile moves the distances between your features and those distances are what the photo exists to record. A slight, closed-mouth expression is tolerated in some countries and refused in others, so the safe version is a relaxed jaw and no smile. The passport photo maker fails the photo on a raised mouth corner or an open mouth and tells you to take it again.

Plain everyday clothes in a colour that is not the same as your background. A white shirt against a white wall merges into it and the outline of your shoulders disappears, which is a real rejection reason. Avoid uniforms, large logos, busy patterns and high collars that cover the chin. Religious head coverings are fine as long as the face stays visible from chin to hairline.

In most countries, no. The United States, the United Kingdom and many others now ask you to remove them entirely, and some allow a documented medical exception. A few authorities still permit clear lenses with no glare and no frame across the eyes. Select your document first and this passport photo maker shows the published rule for it, with a link to the page that says so.

Yes, as long as they do not cover your eyes or cast a shadow over them. Fringes, long hair and hair pushed forward are all acceptable while the eyes, eyebrows and the outline of the face stay visible. If a shadow falls across the eyes, the eye check flags it and a retake with the hair pinned back fixes it.

No. A shadow on your face or on the wall behind you is one of the most common reasons a photo comes back, because it changes the shape the authority is trying to measure. Face a window in daylight so the light hits your face and the wall at once, and stand about half a metre away from the wall so your own shadow falls behind you rather than onto it.

Stand facing a window with a plain wall behind you, hold the phone at eye height about 16 to 20 inches away, keep a neutral face, and take several. No studio and no special camera. Then upload one here and read the checks: the passport photo maker reports each rule separately, so if something is wrong you know which one instead of guessing.

It depends on the authority, not just the country. The United States uses 2×2 inches (51×51 mm), the United Kingdom, Germany, France and most of the European Union use 35×45 mm, Canada uses 50×70 mm, China uses 33×48 mm and Spain uses 26×32 mm. Head height has its own separate range for each of them. Select your document above and the passport photo maker shows the exact published numbers next to the preview.

The check is free, every item of it, with no account. You get the complete rule-by-rule result and a preview of the finished photo with a watermark across it. Payment removes the watermark and gives you the file at the exact pixel size your document needs, with the print sheet and the extra sizes as the more complete option. If any check is failing, the payment step does not open at all: we tell you the photo would be rejected instead of taking your money for it.

No, and nothing that says otherwise is telling you the truth. The issuing authority makes the final decision and can refuse a photo for reasons no software can see. What this tool can do is show you every published rule we could verify, tell you which ones your photo fails, and link you to the official page so you can check the rule yourself.

Usually yes. Counter rejections are almost always one of a short list: a smile, glasses, a shadow, an uneven background, or a head that is the wrong size in the frame. Upload the same photo into the passport photo maker and every rule is scored separately, so you get the specific reason rather than a shrug, and you can fix that one thing instead of starting over.

No. It is read where it already is, and the finished crop is built there too. There is no upload, no account and no copy on our servers. Scoring the result sends a short list of measurements — angles, sizes and pixel counts — which is used to answer and then dropped.

Use the 4×6 inch sheet at 300 DPI. It lays out copies of your photo at the exact size with cut lines between them, so any print shop or home photo printer can produce them and you cut them apart. Check what paper and finish your authority asks for before you print, since a few still specify matte.

Sometimes, but do not assume it. The same source photo can be tested against several specifications here and re-cropped for each, but size, head height, eye line and background colour differ by authority, so a photo that passes for one document can fail for another on the background colour alone.