How to Take a Passport Photo at Home That Portals Accept

A passport-style photo taken at home can pass any portal — if you get five things right: even light, a plain white background, the right distance, the right head size and no glasses. This guide covers how to shoot it with a phone, which official size you actually need (India, 35 × 45 mm or the US 2 × 2 inch), and how to crop and resize it so the upload goes through first time.

Which passport photo size do you need?

It depends on who is asking. Indian passport applications from abroad want a 630 × 810 pixel colour photo. India, the UK, Schengen countries and most others print at 35 × 45 mm. The United States uses a 2 × 2 inch square. Exam and job forms set their own pixels and KB.

The Indian 630 × 810 photo and the 35 × 45 mm print have the same 7 : 9 shape, so one good shot serves both. The full table for exams and government forms lives on the photo and signature size reference, and the 35 × 45 mm vs 2 × 2 inch guide compares the two print standards in detail.

How should you light a passport photo at home?

Face a large window in daylight, with the light falling evenly on both sides of your face. Avoid overhead bulbs, which cast shadows under the eyes, and avoid flash, which causes glare and red-eye. Indian mission notices specifically reject shadows, reflections and red-eye, so soft frontal light matters most.

• Daytime, near a window, but out of direct sunlight — harsh sun makes you squint and throws hard shadows.
• If one side of your face is darker, hold a white sheet or a large piece of white card on that side to bounce light back.
• Turn off the room's ceiling light if it is warm yellow; mixed light gives skin an orange or green cast.

What background works, and how far should you stand?

Use a plain white wall, door or bedsheet with no pattern, and stand about half a metre to a metre in front of it so your shadow falls behind you, out of frame. Indian mission notices ask for a white background; cream or grey walls are a gamble. Don't erase the background digitally.

Indian missions say the photo should not be altered with software, so heavy background replacement or beauty filters can get a photo rejected. If your wall is not white, change the wall — a white bedsheet pinned flat works — rather than editing it afterwards. Exam portals are usually more relaxed, but a light, plain background is still checked by the person who verifies your form.

How do you get the head size and distance right?

Have someone else take the photo from about 1.2–1.5 metres away, with the camera at your eye level and a 2× zoom. Selfies at arm's length distort the face — the nose looks bigger. Leave space above your head and to your shoulders; you'll crop to the exact head size afterwards.

• Use the rear camera — it is sharper than the front one. Switch off portrait mode, beauty mode and HDR effects.
• Shoot upright (portrait orientation) and keep the phone level; a tilted camera makes the shoulders look uneven.
• Don't fill the frame yet. Head-and-shoulders with room around it gives the cropping tool something to work with. Indian missions want the face to fill about 80–85% of the final 630 × 810 frame; the US wants the head 1–1⅜ inches tall in a 2-inch square.
• Take ten shots and pick the sharpest one with both eyes clearly open.

Glasses, expression, clothing and headwear

Take glasses off. The US no longer accepts glasses in passport photos, and Indian missions reject reflections over the eyes, so removing them is the safe choice everywhere. Look straight at the camera with a neutral expression, mouth closed and both eyes open, head straight and not tilted.

• Clothing: ordinary clothes in a colour that contrasts with the white background — avoid white tops, which blend into the wall.
• Hair: keep it off the face so the eyebrows and both edges of the face are visible.
• Headwear: caps and hats come off. Headwear worn for religious reasons is generally allowed if the whole face is clearly visible, but check your application's own rules.
• Recent photo: use a new one. The US requires a photo taken in the last six months, and exam notices ask for a recent photo too.

How do you crop and resize the photo for the portal?

Open a passport photo tool, choose the size you need, drag the frame so the face fills the right share of it, and download a JPG at the portal's KB limit. Then check the file's pixels, format and size before uploading, so a technical mismatch doesn't undo a good photo.

1. For Indian applications from abroad, use Passport Photo Resize — it outputs 630 × 810 px at the file size you choose.
2. For a 35 × 45 mm print or visa, use Passport Photo 35×45 mm; for US forms, Passport Photo 2×2 inch.
3. For an exam form, use that exam's own page so the pixels and KB match the notice.
4. Run the result through the photo checker to confirm format, pixels and KB.
5. Need prints too? Passport Size Photo Sheet lays out up to 30 copies on A4 or 8 on 4 × 6 paper — print at 100% / Actual size, not Fit to page.