The short answer
Open your photo in the print sheet tool below. Choose the Photo size your form asks for, for example 35 x 45 mm or 2 x 2 in, and move the frame so your head is centered with the height the rules require. Then choose the Sheet: 4 x 6 in or 10 x 15 cm if a photo lab or drugstore kiosk will print it, A4 or Letter for your own printer. The preview shows how many copies fit; press Download and print the file at Actual size or 100 percent. Cut along the thin gray lines.
A single 4 x 6 inch or 10 x 15 cm print costs a fraction of what a photo booth charges and holds six to eight passport photos, enough for a passport, a visa and a few spares. If you already cropped a single photo with the image cropper's passport pages, open that file here; the matching size is selected automatically.
Try it here: Passport Photo Print Sheet
Open the full tool pageCommon photo sizes
There is no world standard. Many countries use 35 x 45 mm, the United States and some others use 2 x 2 inches, and certain visas ask for other sizes. The tool lists the common ones and accepts any custom size in millimeters. The table shows how many copies fit with the automatic gap and margin. Note that 10 x 15 cm is 1.6 mm narrower than 4 x 6 inches, which is why only two 2 x 2 inch photos fit on it: for that size choose the 4 x 6 inch sheet.
| Photo size | Pixels at 300 DPI | On 10 x 15 cm | On 4 x 6 in | On A4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 x 45 mm | 413 x 531 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) | 600 x 600 | 2 | 6 | 15 |
| 33 x 48 mm | 390 x 567 | 9 | 9 | 32 |
| 50 x 70 mm | 591 x 827 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
What 300 DPI means
DPI stands for dots per inch. Photo printers work at around 300 dots per inch, and one inch is 25.4 mm, so one millimeter equals 300 / 25.4 = 11.81 pixels. A 35 mm wide photo is therefore 35 x 11.81 = 413 pixels wide, and 45 mm is 531 pixels high. A 2 inch photo is exactly 600 pixels, and a 10 x 15 cm sheet is 1181 x 1772 pixels.
The tool calculates every position in these units and writes 300 DPI into the JPG and PNG files, so printing software knows the real size. The PDF page has exactly the size of the paper. If your photo is smaller than the passport size in pixels, for example a cut out from a group picture, it will look soft on paper; use a sharper original.
Printer settings that keep the size right
Most wrong sizes come from the print dialog, not from the file. Check these settings before you print, and measure the first photo with a ruler.
- Scale: Actual size or 100 percent. Never Fit to page or Shrink to fit.
- Borderless printing off on home printers, because it enlarges the page slightly.
- Paper size in the dialog the same as the sheet you chose in the tool.
- Quality: best or photo, on photo paper if you have it.
- At a lab or kiosk: choose the 4 x 6 or 10 x 15 print size and the option that does not crop the picture, often called Fit or Full image.
Cutting the photos
The cut lines extend the edges of every photo to the border of the sheet. Line up a paper trimmer or a steel ruler with a pair of lines and cut through the whole sheet in one go, first all lines in one direction, then the other. When photos sit edge to edge without a gap, the line between them is drawn on top so one cut separates both. With a 2 mm gap the lines stay outside the photos, which forgives a slightly crooked cut.
Gap and Margin are automatic: the gap is 2 mm when that still fits as many photos and becomes smaller otherwise, and the margin is 0 on photo paper sizes and 5 mm on A4 and Letter, which home printers cannot print to the edge. You can type your own values or set Copies if you need fewer photos.
Check the official rules first
The sheet only takes care of size and layout. Offices also have rules about head height, a plain light background, even lighting, a neutral expression, glasses and how recent the photo is, and some offices do not accept photos printed at home or ask for a digital photo code instead. Read the requirements of the office you apply to before you print. For a plain background, the background remover can help, but some offices do not allow edited photos; when in doubt, use the original photo against a plain wall.