UK driving licence photo
UK driving licence photo
Upload a portrait and get the passport-type photo a UK driving licence application asks for: the 45 by 35 mm frame on a light grey background, ready to print. You see the result in a free preview.
How to make a UK driving licence photo
- Decide how you apply. Online, DVLA can reuse your passport photo or take a new upload. By post you send a printed passport-type photo, and this page prepares it.
- Ask another person to photograph you in front of a real plain light grey or cream wall, in even light.
- Upload the file or shoot with the camera. The print format is preselected, it is listed as "United Kingdom: passport and driving licence (printed photo)".
- The tool gives the 35x45 mm frame on a light grey background and fits the file. Compare the before and after shots in the free preview.
- Download the clean file without a watermark and order a print at exactly 45 mm high by 35 mm wide on photo paper. Keep the original shot for an online upload.
Applying by post: a printed photo
- DVLA asks for a recent printed passport-type photo.
- Do not sign the back of the photo.
- The DVLA pages do not give the size in millimetres. A UK passport print is 45 mm high by 35 mm wide; check the current official instructions on your form before you order prints.
The "United Kingdom: passport and driving licence (printed photo)" format gives that 45 by 35 mm frame on a light grey background, the colour UK passport-type prints use next to cream. Order the print from a photo lab at the exact size: home printing rarely gives the quality that is asked for.
Renewing or updating the photo online with DVLA
A photocard licence carries a photo that has to be renewed from time to time. In the online service on GOV.UK you have two ways to give it.
- Use the photo from your UK passport: DVLA takes it from the passport record.
- Upload a new photo.
For a new upload keep your original shot: a plain light wall behind you, with your head, shoulders and upper body in the frame.
Northern Ireland: the rules are written out
Licences in Northern Ireland are handled separately, and nidirect lists the photo rules in full.
- Printed photo: 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, in colour. Do not trim a larger photo down to this size.
- Printed photo background: light grey or cream.
- Digital photo: there is no size rule, the photo is cropped for you, so do not crop it yourself.
- Digital photo background: plain and light-coloured, with no patterns.
- Your head, shoulders and upper body are in the frame.
- In both cases the photo is taken within the last month.
- Photos printed at home are unlikely to be of a high enough quality.
For the printed photo pick "United Kingdom: passport and driving licence (printed photo)" and have the file printed at the exact size, so that nothing has to be trimmed.
Do not want to fiddle with it? Hand the photo to a retoucher
Automation does not fix everything: a difficult frame, a photo that matters, an old print off a scanner. Where the algorithm gives up, a person works the picture layer by layer in Photoshop, by hand.
BeforeAfter⇆- Bring back sharpness in the face and eyes
- Remove noise and artefacts without plasticising the skin
- Fix colour, contrast and a broken exposure
- Remove scratches, stains and creases from an old scan
- Return a file large enough to print
- Price per photo$10
- Turnaroundwithin 24 hours
- Deliveryto your email
- If we cannot do itmoney back
We will finish your photo by hand
A studio retoucher fixes what automation cannot: sharpness, face, colour, defects. Pay first, then simply send the photo and tell us what you need. If we cannot do it, you get your money back.
- Manual photo retouching$10
Driving licence photo and passport photo
DVLA ties the two together: it can reuse the passport photo online and it describes the postal photo as passport-type. So the UK passport rules are a safe guide: a plain light background, a picture taken in the last month, glasses off if you can manage without them, a head covering only for religious or medical reasons. The same "United Kingdom: passport and driving licence (printed photo)" format serves the printed photo of a paper passport form, and "United Kingdom: passport (online application)" gives the file for the online passport application.
Background: use a real wall
UK passport rules ask for a photo unaltered by computer software, and the format sets its light grey background in software. So shoot against a real plain light grey or cream wall: then the background is right in the original. The tool does not retouch the face and does not redraw clothes. Processing is automatic and acceptance of the photo by DVLA is not guaranteed.
UK driving licence photo questions
What size is a UK driving licence photo? DVLA says passport-type and gives no size in millimetres; the UK passport print is 45 mm high by 35 mm wide. In Northern Ireland the printed photo is stated as 45 by 35 mm. The format on this page gives that frame.
What background does a driving licence photo need? For a printed photo in Northern Ireland: light grey or cream. For a digital photo: plain and light-coloured. The "United Kingdom: passport and driving licence (printed photo)" format gives light grey.
Can I use my passport photo for a driving licence? Yes. When you renew or update the photo online, DVLA lets you use the photo from your UK passport or upload a new one.
Can I upload my own photo to DVLA? Yes, the online service lets you upload a new photo. Take it against a plain light wall with your head, shoulders and upper body in the frame.
Do I sign the back of the photo? No. DVLA asks you not to sign the back of a photo sent by post.
What about a provisional licence? The application for a first provisional licence tells you how to give the photo. Follow the instructions shown in the application itself.
Can I use the same file for a paper passport form? Yes, the frame is the same: 45 mm high by 35 mm wide on light grey or cream. A paper passport form needs two identical prints.
Which files can I upload to the tool? JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC/HEIF and AVIF, up to 20 MB, or a shot from the camera of your phone or computer.
How much does it cost? Processing and the preview with a watermark are free. The clean file without a watermark is a small paid extra.
We will edit a sample from your catalog for free
For online stores, manufacturers, brands and wholesale suppliers. Send 1-3 product photos and we will return them professionally edited, with a price quote for your whole catalog.
This is a b2b, volume format. We do not process personal photos (portraits, events, documents) here.
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