How to take a passport photo at home

1. Choose a plain background

Stand about 1 metre in front of a plain, light-coloured wall — light grey or white works for most countries. Avoid patterned wallpaper, doors, windows or furniture in the frame.

Don't worry if your wall isn't perfectly even — our tool automatically removes the background and replaces it with the correct colour for your country.

2. Get even lighting

Face a window or other light source so light falls evenly on your face. Avoid strong shadows on one side of your face, and avoid using flash directly at the camera, which can wash out detail.

• Natural daylight from a window is best
• Avoid backlighting (don't stand with a window behind you)
• Turn on extra room lights if it's overcast or evening

3. Use the rear camera and keep your phone steady

Ask someone else to take the photo using your phone's rear (main) camera, which is higher resolution than the front-facing selfie camera. Hold the phone at eye level, about an arm's length away.

4. Neutral expression, no glasses

Look directly at the camera with a neutral expression — mouth closed, eyes open, no smiling. Remove glasses, hats and headphones. Hair should not cover your eyes or face.

5. Upload and let the tool do the rest

Upload your photo to Smart Passport Photo and select your country and document type. Our AI removes the background, checks 9 compliance points (face position, lighting, expression and more), and crops the photo to the exact size your country requires — with a free preview before you pay.

6. Country-specific requirements at a glance

Background colour and exact dimensions vary by country, but the photo-taking process above works for all of them — our tool handles the country-specific cropping and background automatically once you select your destination.

• UK: 35×45mm, light grey or cream background, includes a free IDPC code for GOV.UK
• USA: 2×2 inches (600×600px), plain white or off-white background
• Canada: 50×70mm (tall format), plain white background
• Australia: 35×45mm at 600 DPI, light grey or white background
• India: 35×45mm (passport) or 51×51mm square (OCI/visa), plain white background, under 250KB/200KB

7. Taking a passport photo for a baby or child

Babies and young children follow the same size and background requirements as adults, but with relaxed expression rules — most countries' passport authorities accept infants under 1 with their eyes closed or a non-neutral expression, since getting a newborn to look neutrally at a camera isn't realistic.

The easiest method is to lay your baby on a plain white or light-coloured sheet or blanket, then photograph from directly above with the camera pointed straight down. Make sure no other person, hand, dummy or toy is visible in the frame — if a parent's hand is needed to support the baby's head, it must be hidden from view (for example, tucked under a blanket).

Upload the photo as normal and select your country — our tool applies the same compliance checks, adjusted for the more relaxed expression and eye rules that apply to infants.

8. If your photo doesn't pass the compliance check

If our automated check flags an issue — for example, shadows on the background, glasses, or an open mouth — you'll see exactly what's wrong before you pay anything. Simply retake the photo addressing that specific issue and upload again; there's no limit on how many times you can preview before purchasing.

If you've already paid and your photo is later rejected by the government authority itself (which is rare once it passes our checks), contact us with your order number for a free retake or full refund — no rejection letter or proof required.