About IDPhoto.now
Last updated September 23, 2026
What the service does
You choose a document and upload a photo taken with your phone. We check it automatically against the rules the issuing authority publishes. The report and a preview of the finished photo, with a watermark, are free, and you do not need an account.
One payment unlocks the files for your application. If you take a new photo after paying, we check it under the same order at no extra cost, as often as you need.
Payments are in test mode. No order can be paid for with real money at the moment.
What we do to your photo
We crop the photo and resize it to the size the document requires, using only the pixels that are already there. Where the authority does not ban edited photos, we may also replace the background with the plain colour the document asks for. For a Mexican passport, where no colour is published for a photo you bring, we use white, the colour of the photo the SRE takes in its own offices. Where the authority bans edited photos, we replace the background or correct the brightness or contrast only if you ask for it and confirm that the authority may reject such a photo. For a paper UK passport application we may correct the brightness or the contrast once without asking, because HM Passport Office tells its examiners to accept that change. For Polish, Spanish, French and Argentine documents we may also turn the whole photo to level a tilted head. For those, Mexican passports and the Colombian online passport we may change its overall brightness or contrast once. For the same documents we may reduce a colour cast from the light once for the whole photo, only when the wall behind you and the nearly white parts below your chin, such as a collar, show the same cast. On any photo we prepare, we soften shine on the skin of your face only if you ask for it and confirm that the authority may reject such a photo. While the order is open and its photos are stored, you can undo each of these corrections from your report. We do not add padding, enlarge a photo that is too small, or change your features or the shape of your face.
For the online US passport renewal you get your original file back unchanged, together with the report and a guide to the upload form.
For a paper US passport application we replace the background or correct the brightness or contrast only if you ask for it and confirm that the photo may be rejected, because the U.S. Department of State does not accept edited photos:
"Submit the original, unchanged photo. Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence."
Software checks your photo
Software does every check and the approval. The report lists each rule with one of four results: pass, fail, needs review or not checked. You cannot pay while a rule fails or a confirmation we asked for is missing.
An image model looks at the finished photo or, when none could be made and we find one face clear enough to judge, at your head and shoulders cut from your photo, and answers for open eyes, a closed mouth and glasses. Closed eyes or an open mouth block payment, and a smile is only pointed out. When the model gives no answer, the report marks those rules as not checked. Head height is measured on the finished photo, from your chin to the top of your hair. Before paying you confirm what only you can know: the age of the photo when the file has no capture date, a head covering and your clothing.
Photos from unpaid orders are deleted after 24 hours, photos from paid orders after 30 days. You can delete yours sooner on the data deletion page.
Not a government service
IDPhoto.now is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State or any other government body, and we do not submit applications for you. We cannot guarantee that a photo will be accepted. The issuing authority decides.
Where the requirements come from
Each requirement value in our data is stored with the address of the authority’s page it was taken from, and each page with the date it was read. Where the authority publishes no number for head tilt, centring or eye position, a named standard judges them and the report names it. Any other rule without a published number appears as not checked.
The values and their sources are listed under photo standards.
Who runs IDPhoto.now
IDPhoto.now is operated by this company:
ul. Prezydenta Gabriela Narutowicza 40/1
90-135 Łódź
Poland
KRS 0001103255, NIP 7252343252, EU VAT number PL7252343252, REGON 528493956
Contact
For a question about an order or about the service, use the contact page.