UK passport photo — 45 × 35 mm, head 29–34 mm, with GOV.UK's digital and printed rules

GOV.UK sets two different photo routes for a British passport. On paper, you send 2 identical colour prints, each 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, with your head and chin measuring 29 mm to 34 mm, on a plain cream or light grey background, printed on plain white photo paper without a border. Online, you use a digital photo of at least 600 × 750 pixels and 50 KB to 10 MB, on a plain light-coloured background, either from a booth or shop code or taken on your own device with someone helping you, and left uncropped. Both kinds must have been taken in the last month and must not be altered by software.

GOV.UK figures at a glance

Sources: the GOV.UK pages on digital photos, printed photos and countersigning, listed at the end of this page and read on 21 October 2026.

Where this tool fits, honestly

The warning shown in the tool says it plainly: for a real UK passport application, neither of the official routes asks for a crop made by a website. Online, the service wants your untouched original. On paper, it wants professional prints that were not cut from a larger picture. So this page is most useful in three situations:

• Before you go to a booth. Load a test photo, turn on the guides and see how a 29–34 mm head sits inside 45 mm. It is a quick way to learn the framing the booth must hit, and to spot a print that is clearly wrong.
• Other forms that ask for 45 × 35 mm. Some applications only say “passport-sized photo”. The tool gives you that shape at 300 DPI.
• Checking a print you already have. Compare a booth photo with the guide positions listed below.

Making a 45 × 35 mm photo here

1. Add a photo with your head, shoulders and some space above your hair. The Photo type is already set to UK passport.
2. Read the warning box. It repeats GOV.UK’s cropping rule, so you know when not to use the result.
3. Leave Show face-position guides ticked. Drag the picture, or use Zoom, Horizontal position and Vertical position, until the top of your hair is on the yellow line and your chin is inside the blue band.
4. Keep Background on Keep the original. GOV.UK forbids software changes, and a cream or grey wall behind you is better than any replacement.
5. Under Print sheet, pick 4 × 6 in JPEG, 4 × 6 in PDF or Both, then press Make passport photos.

What you get from the UK preset

The tool saves a 413 × 531 pixel photo, which is 35 × 45 mm at 300 DPI, and a second file at 600 × 750 pixels, matching GOV.UK’s minimum digital size. On screen, the yellow line sits 5 mm below the top edge and the blue chin band runs from 34 mm to 39 mm down, so any chin inside the band gives a head between 29 and 34 mm. The 4 × 6 inch sheet takes 8 copies, four across and two down in landscape, with 2 mm gaps and thin grey cutting lines.

The 600 × 750 pixel file is not something to upload to the passport service in place of your original. It exists for other forms that state that size.

What the tool cannot judge

The guides are drawn from the size rule, not from your face. The tool does not look for:

• shadows on your face or on the wall behind you;
• red eye, glare on glasses, or hair over your eyes;
• a smile, an open mouth or a turned head;
• other people or objects in the frame;
• a head covering that is not for religious or medical reasons;
• whether the photo was taken in the last month.

These are exactly the faults GOV.UK lists, and any of them can delay an application.

Printing in the UK

If you do print, use plain white photographic paper and print the sheet at actual size, then measure one photo: it must be 45 mm tall. GOV.UK asks for prints “printed to a professional standard”, in colour, with no creases or tears and no marks on either side except a countersignature. Most UK photo booths already produce 45 × 35 mm. If you use a booth abroad, GOV.UK suggests checking first that it prints that size. Send the two photos loose, not stuck or clipped to the form.

Common reasons for a delay

From GOV.UK’s own list of things to avoid:

1. A background that is not plain or that is too close in tone to your skin or hair.
2. Shadows on the face or behind the head.
3. Red eye, or glasses with tinted lenses, or frames, glare or reflections over the eyes.
4. Hair over the eyes, or anything covering the face.
5. An expression that is not plain, or an open mouth.
6. A photo older than one month, or one reused from your last passport.
7. A print cut from a larger picture, edited, creased or marked.

Countersigning and identity checks

On a paper form, a countersignatory signs part of your application and the back of one photo. This is needed for a first adult or child passport, a replacement for one that was lost, stolen or damaged, a child renewal at age 11 or under, and when you look so different that your old passport no longer identifies you. They must have known you for 2 years, work in or be retired from a recognised profession or be of good standing in the community, and, for applications in the UK, live in the UK and hold a current British or Irish passport.

Online, nobody signs a print. HM Passport Office may instead email the person you name and ask them to confirm your identity, with similar rules about who can do it.

Children and babies

A child must be alone in the picture. Children under 6 do not have to look straight at the camera or keep a plain expression. Babies under one may have their eyes closed, must not hold a toy or use a dummy, and can have their head supported by a hand that stays out of shot. For a digital photo, lay the baby on a plain light sheet and photograph from above.

Related tools

• Passport Photo Maker has the same engine with India, US, Schengen and Canada sizes.
• Image Compressor shrinks a large camera file if a form caps the upload size.
• HEIC to JPG converts an iPhone photo before you crop it.
• EXIF Remover strips location data from a photo you plan to email.

Rules change. Check the GOV.UK pages above on the day you apply.