A passport photo is a face photo printed or submitted in an exact size, against a plain background, with neutral expression, eyes open, no glasses, ears visible. Government biometric systems match it against your face on arrival, so every dimension is enforced — a 2-millimeter offset can get the photo rejected.
Until recently the standard route was a $10–20 trip to CVS, Walgreens, Boots, or a passport-photo kiosk. None of that is necessary anymore. A phone shot against a kitchen wall, a free background remover, and a free crop tool produce a file that passes the same biometric checks. This guide walks through it once for any country, with the exact dimensions for the top destinations.
Why Zebra works for passport photos
Passport photos need four things, in this order: a plain background, a precise crop, even lighting, and a small enough file to upload. Zebra is a free browser-based photo editor that does all four:
- Background Remover — AI cuts the subject out in 3–8 seconds and replaces the background with pure white (#FFFFFF), UK grey (#D5D5D5), or any other required hex. Output up to 4096×4096 pixels, no signup.
- Crop tool — supports millimeter and inch units, freeform ratios, and locked aspect ratios like 35:45 (Schengen), 1:1 (US/India), and 33:48 (China). The viewport shows the exact print size.
- Auto-Enhance — fixes the two most common selfie failures: warm color cast from indoor light, and uneven exposure across the face. Subtle, not airbrushed — the biometric system needs to recognize you.
- Image Compressor — hits exact file-size targets between 30 KB and 10 MB. The US State Department needs ≤10 MB, India Passport Seva needs ≤1024 KB, Schengen portals usually ≤240 KB.
Everything runs in the browser. No download, no signup, no per-photo cost.
Passport photo requirements by country
Specifications below are pulled from each country's official passport or visa authority. Always cross-check the latest version before printing, since rules occasionally tighten (the UK moved from white to light grey in 2018, the EU banned glasses in 2016).
| Country | Size | Background | DPI | Head height | File size (digital) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2×2 in (51×51 mm) | Plain white | 600 DPI | 1–1 3/8 in (25–35 mm) | 54 KB – 10 MB |
| United Kingdom | 45×35 mm | Light grey or cream | 600 DPI | 29–34 mm | 50 KB – 10 MB |
| Schengen / EU | 35×45 mm | Plain white or off-white | 600 DPI | 32–36 mm | ~240 KB max |
| Canada | 50×70 mm | Plain white | 600 DPI | 31–36 mm | Print only (no digital) |
| India | 51×51 mm (2×2 in) | Plain white | 300 DPI | 25–35 mm | 10–1024 KB |
| China | 33×48 mm | Plain white | 300 DPI | 28–33 mm | 40–120 KB |
| Australia | 35×45 mm | Plain light grey or white | 600 DPI | 32–36 mm | ≤10 MB JPG |
| Japan | 35×45 mm | Plain white or light blue | 300 DPI | 32–36 mm | ≤2 MB |
| Brazil | 50×70 mm | Plain white | 600 DPI | 35–45 mm | ≤2 MB |
The two largest passport-photo markets — the US (51×51 mm) and Schengen (35×45 mm) — cover most travelers. India and China use their own sizes, so check the consulate page for the exact pixel count expected on their upload portal.
Step by step
Five steps. Two minutes from selfie to print-ready file.
1. Take a plain selfie
Stand 1.5 meters from any plain wall — white drywall, a closed door, a hung bedsheet, anything uniform. Use even daylight from a window, with the light hitting your face from the front (not from behind, which creates a silhouette). Hold the phone at arm's length or have someone else hold it at your eye level. Face the camera straight on. Neutral expression. Mouth closed. Ears visible. No glasses. No hat. Take three or four shots and pick the sharpest one.
The wall does not need to be white — Zebra removes the original background regardless of color or pattern.
2. Remove the background
Open zebra.tg/remove-bg in your browser. Drag the selfie in. The AI cuts the subject out in 3–8 seconds and shows the result on a transparent checkerboard. Pick the background color from the panel on the right: white (#FFFFFF) for US, India, Schengen, China, Australia, Brazil, Japan; light grey (#D5D5D5) for UK. If a stray strand of hair was clipped off, use the Restore brush to paint it back in — takes a few seconds.
3. Crop to the exact passport size
Open zebra.tg/crop and load the background-replaced photo. Switch units to millimeters in the top control. Enter your country's dimensions from the table above (e.g. 35×45 mm for Schengen, 51×51 mm for US). The Crop tool snaps to that aspect ratio and the viewport now represents the exact print size. Center the face inside the crop frame: the top of the head should sit roughly 3–5 mm below the top edge, and the chin should sit 5–8 mm above the bottom edge. The eyes should be on the upper-third horizontal line.
4. Fix exposure and skin tone
Run the cropped file through zebra.tg/auto-enhance. This evens out exposure, neutralizes the warm color cast from indoor light bulbs, and lifts shadows under the eyes and chin. Biometric face-matching software prefers neutral white-balanced skin tones over warm yellow ones, so this step actually improves the chance of acceptance. The enhancement is subtle — your face still looks like your face.
5. Compress to upload limits
If you are uploading digitally, run the file through zebra.tg/compress-image. Enter the target file size from the table — 240 KB for Schengen visa portals, 120 KB for Chinese consulates, 1024 KB for India Passport Seva. The compressor hits the target with quality-balanced JPG settings. Smart-rendering means the visible quality stays high even at 80 KB.
If you are printing, skip this step and export the file at full resolution. Most photo printers and CVS/Walgreens kiosks accept the file directly from a phone — the standard print size is 4×6 in (102×152 mm), which fits four US passport photos or six Schengen photos per sheet.
Head size and crop overlay
The single biggest source of passport-photo rejections is wrong head size. Rules are precise:
- US (51×51 mm photo): head from chin to crown must be 25–35 mm. Eyes 28–35 mm from the bottom edge.
- UK (45×35 mm photo): head 29–34 mm. Eyes on the central vertical axis. Shoulders visible.
- Schengen (35×45 mm photo): head 32–36 mm. Eyes 30–36 mm from the bottom edge.
- India (51×51 mm photo): head 25–35 mm, with full face occupying 70–80% of the frame.
- China (33×48 mm photo): head 28–33 mm. Forehead, eyes, mouth, and chin must all be visible.
If your selfie was shot too close, the head will be too large and the crop will cut off the chin or crown. Re-shoot from further away rather than shrinking the existing photo — passport software detects upscaling and flags it as a low-resolution submission.
Common mistakes that get rejected
The US State Department publishes monthly rejection statistics. The top reasons, in order of frequency:
- Glasses (28% of rejections in 2023). Take them off. This is the single most-common rejection trigger.
- Shadows on the face (19%). Front-light only. No overhead bulb directly above. No light from one side.
- Non-neutral expression (14%). Closed mouth. No smile that shows teeth. No raised eyebrows.
- Wrong head size (11%). Too small or too large within the frame. Use a crop overlay.
- Background not plain (9%). A door frame, a wall corner, a curtain pattern — all rejected. Use the background remover.
- Hair across the eyes (7%). Both eyes must be fully visible. Sweep hair to the side.
- Filter or beautification applied (5%). Skin smoothing, eye enlargement, or color filters cause biometric mismatch. Use Auto-Enhance, not Instagram filters.
- Wrong file format or size (4%). JPG only for almost all portals. Hit the size cap with the compressor.
- Hat or scarf covering face (3%). Religious head coverings are allowed if forehead-to-chin is visible. Sunglasses, baseball caps, and bandanas are not.
Print at home, at the pharmacy, or upload digitally
Three delivery paths once the file is ready:
- Home printer. Export at 600 DPI, print on photo paper (4×6 in is the standard sheet). Most inkjet photo printers handle this without color calibration.
- Pharmacy / kiosk. Walgreens, CVS, Boots, Walmart, and Rite Aid accept passport-photo files via mobile app or USB. Cost is $10–17 per sheet of four. The photo you upload bypasses the in-store camera, so the lighting and crop come from Zebra.
- Direct digital upload. US State Department (travel.state.gov), UK Passport Office (gov.uk/apply-renew-passport), India Passport Seva (passportindia.gov.in), and Schengen visa portals all accept JPG uploads. Hit their size cap with Zebra's compressor and submit.