French passport and identity card photo — 35 × 45 mm, a 32–36 mm face, and an approved photographer

A French passport or national identity card (carte nationale d’identité, CNI) photo is 35 mm wide and 45 mm high. The face, measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the skull, hair excluded, must be 32 to 36 mm, roughly 70 to 80% of the photo. The background is plain and light, such as light blue or light grey, and never white. The photo must be less than six months old, a good likeness, and taken by an authorised professional photographer or in a booth using a system approved by the Ministry of the Interior, according to service-public.fr and France Titres (ANTS). You hand in one photo per application. Because of the photographer rule, a crop made on this page cannot be used for the application itself. What it can do is show you exactly what the professional is aiming for, so you can check a print before you take it to the town hall.

The official specifications

Service-public.fr, checked by the government’s legal information service on 8 October 2026, and the ANTS passport site publish the same list.

ANTS adds that the standard behind these rules is ISO/IEC 19794-5:2005, the same one used for French driving licences and residence permits for foreign nationals. Service-public.fr warns that a photo outside these rules is rejected and the document is not issued.

Using the framing preview

The output here is a check, not a submission. To use it:

1. Load a straight-on photo of yourself in front of a light, plain wall. Photo type opens on France passport & ID card — 35 × 45 mm, and the notice below it repeats the rules and the photographer requirement.
2. Leave Show face-position guides ticked. The yellow line, about 4.1 mm from the top, marks the top of the head, and the blue band from 36.1 to 40.1 mm down is where the chin belongs. Remember that France measures the skull, not the hair, so a tall hairstyle can sit above the yellow line.
3. Adjust by dragging, with Zoom (or the − and + buttons), Horizontal position and Vertical position. Reset goes back to the start.
4. Check the background choice. The preset’s colour is light grey, because white is forbidden. Any of the Background replacement options edits the photo, which the official route would not accept; they exist for other uses.

Make passport photos still produces a 413 × 531 pixel file (35 × 45 mm at 300 DPI) and a 4 × 6 inch sheet with eight copies, 2 mm apart. Keep those for practice or for an unrelated form that asks for a 35 × 45 mm picture.

Checking a professional’s photo before the appointment

Even an approved provider can produce a photo that misses a rule, and it is the issuing office that refuses it. Before you leave the studio or booth:

• Measure the face. With a ruler, the distance from the bottom of the chin to the top of the skull should be between 32 and 36 mm.
• Look at the background. It should be one even, pale shade, light grey or light blue, with no shadow behind the head and no white.
• Check the eyes and ears. Both eyes open and clear of hair and frames, ears visible.
• Look for glare. Reflections in glasses and shine on the forehead are common reasons to retake the picture.
• Check the date. The photo has to be under six months old on the day you apply, and still look like you when you collect the passport or card.

Applying outside mainland France

The rules on who takes the photo depend on where you apply. Service-public.fr says that in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion you must bring the photo, as in mainland France. In French Guiana and Mayotte the counter may take it, but only if no professional photographer is available, and the passport then costs a little more. ANTS lists embassies and consular posts among those who can capture the digitised image of your face, while service-public.fr’s page for applicants abroad says you must provide the photo. If you apply from abroad, ask your consulate which applies before booking a photographer.

What the tool does not do

It does not detect faces. The guide lines are fixed positions, and it is up to you to line your head up with them. It does not judge exposure, sharpness, shadows, glare or expression, and it has no link to the ministry-approved systems that authorised photographers use. Only the issuing office decides whether a photo is accepted.

Related photo pages

Photo sizes by country and document sets the French format beside other countries’. The Germany passport photo page covers a neighbour that also moved to professionally taken photos, the Schengen visa photo page covers visa applicants coming to France, and the Canada passport photo page covers another country where a studio must take the picture.