This guide is for paper applications. If you renew a US passport online, you upload a file and print nothing. See photo for renewing a US passport online instead.
On a paper application the office looks at a print, so the size on paper is what counts. The examples below use the US passport photo, 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm).
What you download
A paid order for a paper application contains:
- your original file, unchanged,
- the finished photo at print size. For a US passport that is 600 x 600 pixels, which prints as 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) at 300 pixels per inch,
- two print sheets, one for each common photo paper size.
| Sheet | Photos | How they are laid out |
|---|---|---|
| 4 x 6 in (101.6 x 152.4 mm) | 6 photos | Two columns of three, edge to edge with no margin. Thin grey lines show where to cut. |
| 10 x 15 cm (3.94 x 5.91 in) | 2 photos | One above the other with white space around them. Small grey marks at the corners show where to cut. |
Two 2 in photos are 101.6 mm wide, which is 1.6 mm more than a 10 cm sheet has. That is why the metric sheet holds two photos and the 4 x 6 in sheet holds six. For 35 x 45 mm photos both sheets hold six.
The sheets are built at 300 pixels per inch. That figure is our choice: the State Department publishes no DPI number for passport photos.
Print at true size
Pick the sheet that matches the paper you will print on, and print it so that it covers exactly that size. Any other scaling changes the size of the photo and of the head in it.
- Turn off scaling. Turn off "Fit to page", "Scale to fit" and "Shrink to printable area". If the program asks for a print size, enter the size of the sheet: 4 x 6 in or 10 x 15 cm.
- Be careful with borderless printing. Many printers enlarge the image slightly to print without a border. The 4 x 6 in sheet has no margin, so print it on real 4 x 6 in paper without enlargement. If your printer cannot do that, print the sheet on a larger page such as Letter or A4, with the print size set to exactly 4 x 6 in.
- Turn off auto-crop and enhancement. At a print shop or a kiosk, turn off any auto-crop, fit-to-page or enhancement option, or ask the staff to. The State Department does not accept photos changed with software or filters.
- Set the paper type. Tell the printer it is printing on photo paper and choose the best quality setting.
Paper
The State Department asks for this: "Print your photo on matte or glossy photo-quality paper." Either finish is fine. Plain office paper is not photo paper.
Photocopies and scans of a printed photo are not accepted. Neither is a damaged print with holes, creases or smudges. Let an inkjet print dry before you touch it, and hold it by the edges.
Cutting
Use a paper trimmer, or a sharp blade along a metal ruler. Scissors rarely give a straight edge. Cut along the grey lines or from corner mark to corner mark, and keep the corners square.
You submit one photo for a US passport. Keep the others as spares in case the office asks for a new one.
Check the size with a ruler
Measure every print, also one made in a shop. Use a ruler with millimetres.
- The photo. A US passport photo is 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm). Measure both sides. Two inches is 50.8 mm, so a little under 51 mm is correct.
- The head. From the bottom of the chin to the top of the head it must measure 1 to 1 3/8 in (25 to 35 mm). Our report measures this on the finished photo. On paper, a ruler tells you whether the printer kept the size. If the report shows it as not checked, measure it yourself.
- The surface. Look at the print in daylight. It should be sharp, with no streaks, scratches or creases.
If the print is off
A wrong size almost always comes from a printer setting.
- The photo measures 50 mm instead of 51 mm: the 4 x 6 in sheet was shrunk onto 10 x 15 cm paper. Print the 10 x 15 cm sheet, or use real 4 x 6 in paper.
- The photo is larger than 51 mm, or the outer photos are cut off: borderless printing enlarged the sheet. Turn the enlargement off, or print on a larger page with the print size set to the size of the sheet.
- The photo is clearly too small: "Fit to page" or a similar option was on. Turn it off and print again.
- The photo measures right and the head does not: no printer setting fixes that. Take a new photo from a little closer or further away. After payment, a new photo under the same order is free.
What is free and what is paid
The check and the preview are free. The preview is the finished photo with a watermark. Paying $9.90 for a US passport paper application unlocks the same photo without the watermark, and the two print sheets. We crop and resize your photo and change nothing else in it.
You can start with the free photo checker without an account.
Payments are in test mode. No order on this site can be paid with real money yet.
A print of the right size meets the size rule only. The issuing authority decides whether it accepts the photo.
Next
- 2 x 2 inch photo tool
- US passport photo for a paper application
- Pricing
- US passport photo requirements
Sources
Quotes and sizes come from the State Department pages below. The millimetre arithmetic for the sheets is ours.