ID photo size and passport photo size by country: mm, inches and pixels

The most common ID photo size is 35x45 mm. That is 3.5x4.5 cm, 1.38x1.77 inches, or 413x531 pixels at 300 dpi. The exceptions are big ones: the United States and the Indian visa ask for a 2x2 inch square (51x51 mm), Canada asks for 50x70 mm, China for 33x48 mm, and Indonesia uses three formats of its own: 2x3, 3x4 and 4x6 cm. Below you will find every size in tables, with pixels for 300 and 600 dpi and with the file weight limits where the authorities publish them.

Most common ID photo size: 35x45 mm

The size you will meet most often is 35 mm wide and 45 mm high. The Netherlands requires it for both the passport and the ID card. The United Kingdom uses it for printed passport photos, the Schengen countries for visas, Russia for the international passport, Korea and Japan for visas, the Philippines for the passport.

If a form says "passport size photo" and gives no numbers, it nearly always means 35x45 mm. Still, check the website of the authority that issues your document, because the United States, Canada, China and India all use different dimensions.

Visa photos have more rules than the size alone. They are collected in a separate guide: visa photo sizes and requirements by country.

ID size photo in pixels at 300 and 600 dpi

A 35x45 mm photo is 413x531 pixels at 300 dpi and 827x1063 pixels at 600 dpi. For printing at a photo shop or at home 300 dpi is enough. You need 600 dpi when the print will later be scanned or enlarged.

The numbers in this table are calculated: divide millimetres by 25.4 and multiply by the dpi value. Online application forms often set their own pixel dimensions that do not follow this table. In that case trust the form, not the calculation.

ID photo size and head height: what is measured besides the sides

The outer size is not enough. Authorities set a separate rule for the height of the head, measured from the chin to the crown. A photo of the right format where the face is too small, or where the top of the head is cut off, will be rejected.

The Netherlands also measures the width of the face: 16-20 mm, not counting the ears. The Philippine requirements give a share instead of millimetres: the face takes up about 70-80% of the photo.

ID size photo in Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and India

For online applications in Singapore the ICA gives the size in pixels: 400x514, a file of up to 8 MB, in JPG, JPEG, HEIC, HEIF or PNG, taken within the last three months. The proportions are the same as for 35x45 mm.

• Philippines, passport: 4.5x3.5 cm, Royal Blue background, the face takes 70-80% of the photo. This is how the Philippine embassy in Seoul describes it.
• Australia, passport: 35-40 mm wide, 45-50 mm high, face 32-36 mm, photo less than 6 months old.
• India, passport: the official instruction booklet for the application form names a paper photo of 4.5x3.5 cm on a white background. It is needed only when you apply through collection points (DPC, SPC, CSC). At Passport Seva Kendra centres you do not bring a photo. Indian embassies abroad may ask for something else: the embassy in Argentina, for example, specifies 2x2 inches.
• India, visa: a 2x2 inch square (5x5 cm).

ID photo size for a digital ID or an online form

For an online application the size is given in pixels and kilobytes, not in millimetres. Millimetres matter only for printing.

The DV lottery is the strictest case here: the file must be exactly 600x600. The full checklist is in the guide to green card photo requirements.

How to get the right ID size photo in the Photo for Documents tool

Upload a picture or take one with your camera, choose the document in the list of formats, then press the process button. The online ID photo tool crops the face to the standard of the chosen document, sets the background that the format calls for, evens out the white balance and brings the pixel dimensions and the JPEG weight within the limit of that format.

The catalogue has 58 ready formats. Among them are Schengen, the United States (DS-160 and green card), the United Kingdom, including a separate format for the online passport application, the Netherlands passport and ID card, China, India (e-Visa), Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia and Canada. There is also a general 3x4 cm photo for an ID card, a badge or a student card.

The result line shows which document the photo was processed for, its size in mm and pixels, and the maximum file weight. Processing and the preview are free, the clean file is paid. You download a single photo, not a sheet for printing. A custom size cannot be entered: you pick one of the ready formats.

One caution. Some countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, do not accept photos where the background was replaced by software. For those documents shoot against a plain light wall, so that the background needs no replacing.

There is no single passport photo size. Most countries use 35x45 mm, the United States uses a 2x2 inch square, Canada uses 50x70 mm. The freshness rule differs too: from one month in the United Kingdom to six months in most other places.

Passport photo size for the United States in inches and millimetres

A photo for a US passport or visa is a 2x2 inch square, which is 51x51 mm. The head, from the chin to the top, takes from 1 to 1 3/8 inches, or 50-69% of the frame height. The background is white or off-white, and the photo is no more than 6 months old.

In pixels this is 600x600 at 300 dpi. The DS-160 form accepts a square JPEG with a side of 600 to 1200 pixels and a weight of up to 240 KB. For the DV lottery the file must be exactly 600x600. You may scan a paper photo if it is 2x2 inches and the scan is made at 300 ppi.

Passport photo size for the United Kingdom

A printed photo is 45 mm high and 35 mm wide, with the head measuring 29-34 mm from the crown to the chin. You need two identical photos on a plain cream or light grey background, taken within the last month.

The online application has different rules: the file is at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels high, weighs from 50 KB to 10 MB, and has a plain light background. The freshness rule is the same: taken within the last month. That is the shortest limit among all the countries in this article.

In the tool the format is called "United Kingdom: passport (online application)". It produces a 900x1125 pixel file within a range of 50 KB to 5 MB, which fits inside the official limits.

Passport photo size for the Netherlands and Schengen: Dutch ID card photo

In the Netherlands one size serves both the passport and the ID card: 35x45 mm, width by height. The face measures 26-30 mm from chin to crown, 19-30 mm for children under 11, and the face is 16-20 mm wide. The background is light grey, light blue or white. The photo must be no more than 6 months old on the day you apply. The tool has this format under the name "Netherlands: passport / ID card", 35x45 mm.

A Schengen visa also needs 35x45 mm. The share of the face in the frame varies a little between consulates: the German visa centre names 70-80% of the frame and a white background, the Czech Republic requires at least 13 mm from the eyes to the chin.

Passport photo size in Canada, China, Australia and India

Canada stands out the most: 50 mm wide and 70 mm high (2 by 2 3/4 inches). The face measures 31-36 mm from chin to crown. You need two identical photos, a white or light background, and a photo no more than 6 months old.

For the old type Russian international passport you bring paper photos of 3.5x4.5 cm: three for adults and children from 14, two for children under 14. For the new type passport no paper photos are needed: an officer photographs the applicant at the appointment.

Passport photo size in pixels for online applications

There is no single pixel size: every form sets its own. United States: a square of 600-1200 pixels, up to 240 KB. United Kingdom: from 600x750, from 50 KB to 10 MB. Singapore: 400x514, up to 8 MB.

If a form names only millimetres, calculate the pixels yourself: 35x45 mm at 300 dpi gives 413x531. But look at the upload form first. A portal sometimes shows the weight limit and the exact pixels only there. The Russian Gosuslugi portal works this way: the help page has no numbers for the file, they appear in the form itself.

When no passport photo size matters: the office takes the picture

Some authorities photograph the applicant themselves, so you do not need the size at all. In Indonesia the passport photo is taken at the immigration office on the day of the interview, against a white background. That is why the office advises against wearing white: the clothes would blend into the background. In India no paper photo is required at Passport Seva Kendra centres. In Russia an officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs takes the photo for the new type international passport.

The file you upload to the Russian electronic application does not go into the passport: it stays in the personal file.

Passport photo size checklist before you shoot

Before you take the picture, write down five things from the official page of your document. They decide whether the photo is accepted far more often than the camera does.

1. The size of the print in mm or inches, or the pixel dimensions for an upload.
2. The head height or the share of the frame that the face must take.
3. The background colour: white, light grey, cream or a colour.
4. The maximum age of the photo: one month, three months or six.
5. The file format and the weight range, if you apply online.

Then shoot with even light and without shadows on the face or on the wall behind you. A step by step method is in the guide on how to take an ID photo at home with a phone.

A standard ID card measures 85.60x53.98 mm. The photo on it has no fixed standard: the issuer decides. In practice card photos follow the small centimetre formats, 2x3 and 3x4, and those are the same formats that Indonesian forms ask for.

ID card size under ISO/IEC 7810

A standard ID card is 85.60x53.98 mm with a thickness of 0.76 mm. This is the ID-1 format of the international standard ISO/IEC 7810, "Identification cards. Physical characteristics". Bank cards have the same size, which is why an ID card fits an ordinary wallet.

ID card size in cm, inches and pixels

In centimetres an ID card is 8.56x5.398 cm, usually rounded to 8.6x5.4.

The pixels are calculated by formula and are meant for a layout. A print shop usually asks you to add bleed margins to the layout: ask the shop how wide they should be.

Other card formats of the same standard: ID-2, ID-3, ID-000

The standard describes four card sizes, all with a nominal thickness of 0.76 mm.

If you are making a pass or a badge and want it to fit standard holders and plastic card printers, choose ID-1.

ID size photo for an ID card, a staff pass or a badge

ISO/IEC 7810 sets the size of the card, not of the picture on it. The size of the photo on an employee pass, a student card or a club card is decided by whoever issues the card. There is no single number.

A simple guide: the card is 53.98 mm high, so a 3x4 cm photo fits a vertical card, and a 2x3 cm photo is the usual choice for a horizontal one. This is geometry, not a rule. A 4x6 cm photo will not fit an ID-1 card: it is taller than the card. Ask the HR department or the print shop which size is built into the layout, and prepare the file for that size.

Which photo file to give for printing an ID card

Give a file with spare pixels, not one cut to the exact minimum. A 2x3 cm window at 300 dpi needs 236x354 pixels, a 3x4 cm window needs 354x472. A file made for 600 dpi (472x709 and 709x945) gives the print shop room for cropping.

The requirements for the picture itself are the same as for a document photo: face straight to the camera, even light without shadows, a plain background. The organisation chooses the background colour for a company card. The tool has a general format for this job, "Photo 3×4 cm (ID card, badge, student card)".

Indonesian ID photo sizes 2x3, 3x4 and 4x6 cm

In Indonesia a photo size is named by its sides in centimetres: 2x3, 3x4 and 4x6. The first number is the width, the second is the height. There is no official standard for the exact millimetres, so the table gives a literal conversion.

Look at the proportions. 2x3 and 4x6 are the same frame at a different scale: 4x6 is exactly twice as large. 3x4 is wider. If you shrink 4x6 to a height of 4 cm you get 2.67x4, so to reach 3x4 you have to crop again with different margins at the sides. Stretching will not work: the face would be distorted.

3x4 photo and 4x6 photo: where each is asked for

A 3x4 photo is the most common size for forms and applications in Indonesia, and the same format is familiar in Brazil and Russia. One example from the public sector: for registration on the civil service selection portal (SSCASN) the list of documents includes a recent 3x4 photo on a red background, a JPG or JPEG file of up to 200 KB. These numbers come from a leaflet of the personnel agency of East Belitung regency, and it is an old one. The terms of each intake are published anew, so check the current announcement before you apply.

Indonesian immigration offices name 4x6 cm for visa applications: white background, two photos. Do not confuse it with 4x6 inch photo paper. That is a 10x15 cm sheet on which a shop prints several small photos at once. The Indonesian 4x6 is measured in centimetres.

The 2x3 photo is the smallest of the three and goes on small forms and cards where the space for a picture is limited. At this size 300 dpi is the sensible minimum: printed from a file smaller than 236x354, the face comes out soft. Prepare the file with a margin, for 600 dpi: 472x709.

Background colour for Indonesian photos and the formats in the tool

In Indonesia the size nearly always comes together with a background colour, and that is where mistakes happen.

• White: passport and visas. This is what the immigration service states.
• Red or blue: the KTP-el identity card. Regional population registry offices (Dukcapil) explain it this way: a red background for people born in an odd year, a blue one for people born in an even year.
• Red: the 3x4 photo for SSCASN in the list of documents quoted above.

The tool covers these cases. Its catalogue has Indonesian 2x3, 3x4 and 4x6 cm formats, each on a red and on a blue background, with a file of up to 200 KB. For visas there is "Indonesia (eVOA / VITAS)": 40x60 mm, 472x708 pixels, a file of up to 200 KB, white background. By its sides it is the same 4x6.

To turn a print size into pixels, divide the centimetres by 2.54 and multiply by the dpi. A 35x45 mm ID photo at 300 dpi is 413x531 pixels. The file weight is a separate matter: it depends on the pixels and on JPEG compression, not on the centimetres.

Formula for ID photo size: centimetres to pixels

Pixels = centimetres / 2.54 x dpi. For millimetres divide by 25.4. An example for 3x4 cm at 300 dpi: 3 / 2.54 x 300 = 354, and 4 / 2.54 x 300 = 472. The result is 354x472.

A quick way to count in your head: at 300 dpi one centimetre holds 118 pixels, at 600 dpi it holds 236.

What dpi means for ID photo size and which value to choose

Dpi is the number of dots per inch in print. A file on its own has no size in centimetres: 413x531 pixels become a 35x45 mm photo only when printed at 300 dpi. The same file at 150 dpi comes out twice as large and clearly less sharp.

For printing document photos use 300 dpi. If a form asks for a scan of a paper photo, read its requirements: the American one, for example, names 300 ppi.

How much an ID size photo file weighs

The weight depends on the number of pixels and on the level of JPEG compression. An uncompressed 413x531 photo takes about 0.65 MB (three bytes per pixel), and 600x600 takes a little over 1 MB. JPEG compresses such a picture several times over, so a document photo usually fits into tens or hundreds of kilobytes.

What matters more is the range the file has to fit into:

The lower limit matters as well: the British form will not accept a file lighter than 50 KB.

How to reduce the weight of an ID size photo without spoiling the size

First bring the picture to the required pixels, then adjust the JPEG quality. Do not do it the other way round: if you compress a large frame hard and then shrink it, compression marks stay on the face.

• Do not cut the pixels below the required number for the sake of weight: the form checks both.
• Save as JPEG unless the form names another format.
• Do not save the file again and again: every save adds losses.

The tool does this by itself: it brings the pixel dimensions and the JPEG weight within the limit of the chosen format. If you want to do it by hand, read how to reduce photo file size without losing quality.

Which source picture is good enough for a passport photo size file

The source must be larger than the final file. For the tool the guide is this: a short side of 900 pixels or more is normal, 600-900 pixels gives a warning, and less than 600 pixels is an error in the preliminary check.

The tool accepts JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and AVIF files of up to 20 MB. A picture from any modern phone has far more pixels than needed. Light and background fail more often than resolution does.

ID photo size in three steps: from requirements to a ready file

The whole job comes down to three steps, whatever the document.

1. Find the size on the official page: millimetres or inches for a print, pixels and kilobytes for an upload.
2. Take a picture with spare resolution, with even light and a plain wall behind you.
3. Crop to the standard and bring the file into the weight range.

The second and third steps can be done in the Photo for Documents tool: choose your document in the list and check the result line, which shows the size in mm, the pixels and the maximum weight. If the document you need is not among the 58 formats, take the closest one by its sides and compare the head height with the table in the first section before you submit the photo.

What is the most common ID photo size? 35x45 mm, which is 3.5x4.5 cm, 1.38x1.77 inches or 413x531 pixels at 300 dpi. The United States, Canada, China and India use other sizes, so check the page of your authority.

Are a 3x4 photo and a 35x45 photo the same thing? No. 3x4 is 30x40 mm, while 35x45 is 5 mm larger on each side, and the proportions differ: 3:4 against 7:9. A 3x4 photo will not fit a 35x45 window, and the reverse is also true.

How many pixels are in a 3x4 photo? 354x472 at 300 dpi and 709x945 at 600 dpi. If the form names its own pixels, follow the form.

Is a 4x6 photo measured in centimetres or inches? In Indonesian requirements it is centimetres: 40x60 mm. 4x6 inches is the size of 10x15 cm photo paper, on which a sheet of several photos is printed.

What is the ID card size in pixels? 1011x638 at 300 dpi and 2022x1275 at 600 dpi. This is a conversion of 85.60x53.98 mm, without bleed margins.

Can I print a passport photo at home? It depends on the country. Australia requires a print on heavy glossy paper and does not accept inkjet prints, India does not accept a computer printout. It is safer to take the ready file to a photo shop or a photo kiosk.

What photo size do I need for an Indonesian visa? Immigration offices state 4x6 cm on a white background, two photos. The Photo for Documents tool has the format Indonesia (eVOA / VITAS) for this.

Why is a file of the right size still rejected? Usually the sides are fine and something else is wrong: the head is too small or too large, the file is heavier or lighter than the limit, the photo is older than allowed, or the background is the wrong colour. Check all four points against the tables above.