How to Take a Passport Picture With a Digital Camera

The US Government has very strict requirements passport photos. Passport photos must measure exactly 2-inch by 2-inches and can be no older than 6 months at the time you submit your passport application. If you don't want to pay to have your passport photo taken you can easily do your own at home using a digital camera.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Digital Camera
• White Wall
• Photo Paper
• Photo Printer

1. Find a white or off white wall and have your subject sit in front of it facing the camera with a natural expression on their face; not smiling.

2. Frame the picture so your subject's face is in the middle of the screen and take the picture.

3. Review the photo you just took and make sure your subjects eyes were open, their mouth was closed, and they were facing directly at the camera.

4. Upload the photo onto your computer and load it into your favorite photo editing program.

5. Crop the picture into a perfect square, so that the face of the subject is at the top of the square and is not being cut off on any side. Your subjects face from chin to hair should be between 1-inch and 1 3/8-inches of the entire picture and not tilted to either side.

6. Use the printing preferences options in your photo editor to adjust the picture size to 2-inches.

7. Print two identical copies of your picture on thin photo-quality paper and submit them along with your passport application.

Tips & Warnings

• Your subject must be wearing normal "street attire" without a hat or dark glasses.
• Make sure your picture is completely in focus or it won't be accepted. The photos resolution must be one-megapixel or above to be accepted.

Resources

• US Government Passport Site