Online US Passport Photo Maker

Why passport photos get refused

Roughly one in five do, and the reasons are consistent enough to list. The background is the most common: a doorframe, a patterned wall, or a color cast from a nearby lamp. Shadows come next — under the nose from ceiling lights, or on the wall behind you from standing too close to it.

Then framing. The head must measure between 1 and 1⅜ inches inside a 2-inch square, which is a band of about three-eighths of an inch. Photos taken at conversational distance land under it almost every time, and the eyes end up too low as a result.

The rest are about you rather than the picture: glasses, banned since 2016; teeth showing; eyes narrowed from squinting into the sun. Those need another photo, which is why retakes here cost nothing.

Taking a photo that passes, at home

Hand your phone to someone and have them stand about six feet back. That distance does more than anything else: at arm's length a phone lens enlarges the nose and narrows the face, which is the distortion behind the official instruction not to submit a selfie. If you are alone, prop the phone up and use the timer at the same distance, and use the rear camera — it is sharper and does not mirror.

Stand a couple of feet in front of a plain, light wall, in daylight, facing a window on an overcast day. The gap stops your shadow landing on the wall; the window gives you flat, even light with no shadow under the nose.

Wear something mid-toned. A white top merges into the white background the specification requires, which is not a rule violation but does leave your outline undefined. Take more shots than feels necessary — the whole point of doing it at home is that attempts are free.

What you get, and what it costs

Two files. A 1200 × 1200 pixel digital photo — the maximum resolution the State Department accepts — which uploads straight into an online renewal. And a 6 × 4 inch sheet at 600 dpi holding two 2 × 2 inch photos with hairline cut guides, which any drugstore kiosk will print for around 35¢.

$11.86 for both, paid after you have seen all eleven checks pass. Drugstore counters charge $7.64 to $19.99, usually hand you prints only, and measure nothing — the clerk frames the shot by eye and you find out whether it worked when your application is processed weeks later.