TeraConvert

US passport photo

Take a photo against a white wall, line your head up with the guides, and save a 2x2 inch photo or a 4x6 sheet to print.

Choose your document

Document
Size
2 x 2 in
Digital file
600 x 600 px
Head height
25 to 35 mm
Background
White or Off-white

Or drop it here. It stays on this device: nothing is uploaded anywhere.

BeforeA phone photo taken against a wall at home
After
  • Face a window, with a plain light wall about a metre behind you.
  • Ask someone to take it from 1.5 m away, phone at eye level, zoomed to 2x.
  • Shoulders in the shot, face the camera, mouth closed.
  • Never uploaded
  • No watermark
  • Free, no account

How to make a US passport photo at home

Six steps with the real tool, and the photo never leaves your device.

  1. Step 1

    Choose your document and your photo

    Pick US passport and its rules appear beside it: 2 x 2 inch, a head of 25 to 35 mm, and a white or off-white background. Then choose your photo, or drop it on the card. It stays on your device.

    Take it against a plain light wall, facing the camera, with your shoulders in the shot. Ask someone else to take it: a selfie comes out mirrored and too close.

    Choosing the US passport document, with its size, head height and background listed and the Choose your photo button highlighted.

  2. Step 2

    Let it line you up

    The tool finds your face, measures the top of your head and your chin, and crops to the US passport rule: 25 to 35 mm from chin to crown on a 2 x 2 inch photo. A tilted head is levelled.

    It balances the light, then checks what passport offices reject photos for: eyes open, mouth closed, facing the camera, no red eye, even light, a plain background, one face, enough detail to print. The green ruler shows your head height as it will print.

    The checks screen for a US passport photo, with each check passed and the photo measured in millimetres.

  3. Step 3

    Fine-tune if you want

    Most photos need nothing here. If you want it a little different, drag the photo, or use the two sliders.

    Zoom changes the head size inside the shaded band, which is the US passport limit. Straighten levels a head the tool could not.

    The 2 x 2 inch US passport frame with its guides, and the Zoom and Straighten sliders highlighted.

  4. Step 4

    Fix the light and the background

    Studio light is already on: the tool balances the colour against the wall behind you, brings your face to studio brightness and softens the shadows, the way a photo booth's lights would. The Light tab fine tunes it, and Reset takes it off. It never smooths skin or changes your face.

    Wall not plain? On the Background tab, pick White: you are cut out and placed on it, in your browser. A tick marks what a US passport photo accepts: white or off-white. The US passport rules prefer an unedited photo, so when your wall and light are already good, leave both alone.

    Studio light and the Background picker, with White selected for a US passport photo.

  5. Step 5

    Save the file

    Save photo gives you a 600 x 600 px JPEG. That is the file the online form takes.

    Need prints? Next to Print on, pick 4x6 photo, Letter or A4, then press Print. There is nothing to size: the page is already the paper.

    The Save photo and Print buttons highlighted, with the paper choices above them.

  6. Step 6

    Print it

    Pick the paper you have. A4 fits 15 photos and Letter fits 12, for your own printer. 4x6 photo fits 2, for a photo kiosk, which prints it for cents.

    Print at 100% (Actual size). Check the 1 inch bar with a ruler, then cut along the marks. Every photo sits inside a margin, so a printer that trims the edge cannot make them smaller than 2 x 2 inch.

    A 4x6 inch print sheet with 2 US passport photos, cut marks and a 1 inch check bar.

US passport photo requirements

Size2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm)
Head1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm), chin to top of head
BackgroundPlain white or off-white, no shadows
GlassesNot allowed, unless a doctor's note says they cannot come off
ExpressionEyes open, mouth closed. A closed-mouth smile is fine
Age of photoTaken in the last 6 months
PaperMatte or glossy photo paper, no scans or photocopies

Checked against the official pages on 2026-10-20: U.S. Department of State: Passport photos, U.S. Department of State: Uploading a digital photo (online renewal). Rules change; your passport office has the final word.

How to take the photo

Most of what a photo studio gives you is light and distance. You can get both at home in two minutes.

  1. 1

    Light

    Face a window in daylight. Turn off the overhead bulb and the flash: one makes a yellow cast and shadows under the eyes, the other makes red eye.

  2. 2

    Distance

    Ask someone to hold the phone about 1.5 m away, at your eye level, zoomed to 2x. Up close, a phone lens makes your nose look bigger. Turn portrait mode off: its blur eats the edges of your hair.

  3. 3

    Wall and pose

    Stand about a metre in front of a plain light wall, so your shadow falls behind you and out of the shot. Shoulders square, face the lens, mouth closed, glasses off.

What we check before you save

Up to thirteen checks, plus visible ears for the documents that ask for them, measured on your device the moment you add your photo. Each is a reason passport offices send photos back.

  1. 01

    Face found

    Nothing else works without it, so this one comes first.

  2. 02

    Shoulders in the photo

    A photo cropped tight around the head cannot be framed to the rules. Your shoulders need to reach the bottom.

  3. 03

    Only one face

    A second person in the shot, even at the edge, gets a photo rejected.

  4. 04

    Facing the camera

    A turned head is the most common reason a home photo comes back. We measure where your nose sits between your cheeks.

  5. 05

    Shoulders square to the camera

    A selfie angles the body. Both shoulders should face the lens, level.

  6. 06

    Neutral expression

    Most offices want a relaxed, closed mouth and no smile. The US passport allows a closed smile, so it skips this one.

  7. 07

    Eyes open

    Both eyes, open and visible. A blink is a retake.

  8. 08

    Mouth closed

    Offices ask for a neutral expression; a wide smile or open mouth fails.

  9. 09

    No red eyes

    Flash red-eye is a rejection reason on its own. Take it without the flash.

  10. 10

    Even light on your face

    A shadow down one side of the face hides its shape. We compare your two cheeks.

  11. 11

    Plain background

    Patterns, doors and furniture behind you are out. We measure how busy the wall is.

  12. 12

    Sharp enough to print

    Blur and blown-up small photos are caught by measuring fine detail, not just pixels.

  13. 13

    Head straight

    A tilted head is levelled for you, up to 15 degrees.

  14. 14

    Both ears visible

    Only for documents that ask for it, such as the Chinese visa. A hair model checks that hair is not covering either ear.

No tool can promise a passport office will accept a photo, and we do not. The checks tell you what to fix before you print.

Get it right first time

A plain wall beats an edited background

The State Department shows a photo with a retouched background as an example of a rejected photo. Stand in front of a plain white wall or sheet and keep Original; the background picker is the fallback for when you cannot.

Renewing online? Don't crop

The online renewal wants your photo from the shoulders up, uncropped. It does the cropping itself. This 2x2 crop is for paper forms (DS-11, DS-82).

No glasses

Glasses have not been allowed in US passport photos since 2016, even prescription ones.

Your face stays on your device

Most passport photo sites upload your photo to their servers before you see a price, and keep it afterwards. This one runs in your browser: the face check, the background, the light and the print sheet all happen on your device, and the photo is never sent anywhere. It is also free, with no watermark and no account.

Questions

Can I use a photo I took myself?

Yes. The State Department says a friend or family member can take your passport photo. It has to be the original, unedited photo.

Is my photo uploaded?

No. The crop, the background option and the print sheet all run in your browser. The photo never leaves your device.

Is it free?

Yes. No account, no watermark, no limit.

Can it change my background?

Yes. Pick White, Off-white, Light grey, Cream or Light blue and you are cut out and placed on it, in your browser. A tick marks the colours your document accepts. Some offices, the US and UK among them, prefer an unedited photo, so if your wall is already plain, keep Original.

Where do I print it?

At home: pick Letter or A4 under Print and press Print. At a photo kiosk: pick 4x6 photo and save the JPEG, then print it as a normal 4x6 photo. Either way, print at actual size and check the 1 inch bar with a ruler.

Other passport and visa photos