United Kingdom Passport Photo Size 2026

UK Passport Photo at a Glance

UK passport photos run 35x45mm in print with the strictest freshness rule in the system: taken within the last month. Digital applications need at least 600 pixels wide by 750 tall between 50KB and 10MB on a plain light-coloured background — verified on gov.uk in October 2026. Booth codes plug straight into the online form, while home shots need a helper photographer and discipline about shadows. Details below quote the official rules with links.

Exact Size in mm, Inches, and Pixels

The 35x45mm print equals roughly 1.38 x 1.77 inches with head height at 29–34mm from chin to crown. Digital applications enforce 600x750 pixels minimum — note the portrait ratio differs from square presets, so US 2x2 crops never transfer. File size bands (50KB floor, 10MB ceiling) are generous; export high quality and only step down if the uploader complains. Our UK preset locks ratio, pixels, head band, and background tone together.

Do not pre-crop home shots tightly: gov.uk instructs device photographers to include head, shoulders, and upper body because the system crops centrally itself. Over-cropped uploads lose the headroom the validator expects. Shoot slightly wide, let the preset frame it.

Booth Codes, Shops, and the Digital Route

Photo booths and shops offer a code with the prints; entering that code in the online application pulls the digital photo straight in — the highest-approval path gov.uk itself recommends over device shots. Home photographers need a helper (no selfies), plain light wall, and the subject facing forward with plain expression. Either route ends at the same validator, so booth users should still run our checker on the code-linked image where possible, and home users must.

Printed applications (paper forms) take physical 35x45mm prints meeting the same visual rules. Post Office Check & Send reviews the whole application including photos for a fee — worthwhile for first-timers, overkill for routine renewals with a checked photo.

Babies and Children (UK Has Special Rules)

Under-sixes need not look at the camera or hold a plain expression, and under-ones may keep eyes closed with invisible hand support — the only major system with eyes-closed allowances. Lay under-ones on a plain light sheet and shoot from above; older children stand against the wall like adults. Toys and dummies must leave the frame entirely. These relaxations cover pose only: background, lighting, and freshness rules apply in full.

Countersigning and Guarantor Photos

First adult passports and some renewals need a countersignatory who has known the applicant two years — the countersignatory confirms identity, not photo quality, but a photo that plainly fails rules bounces before countersignature matters. Digital applications route countersigning online; paper forms carry the signed declaration. Choose attestors early, since chasing signatures causes more delay than any photo step.

Where to Get Photos in the UK

Booths in supermarkets, stations, and shopping centres print 35x45mm strips with digital codes for a few pounds — select the passport option explicitly and keep the code safe. Timpson, Max Spielmann, and Post Office counters offer staffed photos with immediate re-takes. For zero cost, the home method (helper, daylight, plain wall, our maker, checker) matches booth acceptance when done carefully; booths win on convenience, not on rules.

Make It Free with Our Photo Maker

Our free passport photo maker carries a one-click preset for this exact specification (UK 35x45mm). Upload a well-lit headshot, pick the preset, and the tool crops, sizes, and lays out the sheet automatically — no account, no watermark, files stay in your browser. The full walkthrough below uses the same steps our checker validates against, so a photo that passes here passes the official counter too.

1. Upload a source photo. Phone photo against a plain wall, face the window for soft daylight, hair off the face, neutral expression. Bigger and sharper is better; the tool downsamples, it cannot invent detail.
2. Pick the country preset. Select the preset named for this specification. The crop box locks to the official aspect ratio and head-height band automatically.
3. Adjust and check background. Center the face in the guides, confirm the background reads plain and light, and remove glasses unless your country's rules permit them.
4. Download the single photo and the 4x6 sheet. The single JPEG is for online applications; the sheet prints multiple copies at exact size for paper filings.
5. Run the checker before submitting. Our free checker re-verifies dimensions, background, and quality against the same rules below.

Print at Exact Size (4x6 and A4)

Home printing fails on scaling, not on printers: one wrong dialog box shrinks the photo and voids the size. Print the 4x6 sheet at 300 DPI, paper size set to 4x6 inch (or A4 with the sheet placed unscaled), scaling at 100 percent or Actual Size, and borderless off unless the layout accounts for margins. Matte or luster photo paper takes ink without the glare that glossy prints add — glare reads as a defect under counter lighting.

Verify with a ruler before cutting: the printed photo must measure the official millimeters edge to edge, not approximately. If it is off by even a millimeter, recheck the scaling setting rather than trimming to fit — trimming a wrongly scaled print keeps the head proportion wrong. Our print-at-home walkthrough, linked below, shows the exact dialog settings for the common printer brands.

Baby and Child Photos

Children need their own compliant photo, and babies are rejected most often for hands, toys, shadows, and tilted heads. The working method: lay the baby on a plain light sheet, shoot from directly above in daylight, keep toys and dummies out of frame, and support the head from behind the sheet so no adult hand appears. Apply the UK-specific relaxations above: under-one eyes-closed and invisible support are explicitly allowed, unlike most countries.

Validity, Renewal, and Lost Replacements

Standard adult UK passports run ten years; under-16s get five. Renewal reuses the full photo standard with the under-one-month freshness clock restarted — never recycle the decade-old image. Lost, stolen, and damaged replacements add the LS01-style declaration process with identical photo rules; report promptly and keep the crime reference where applicable. Fast Track (one week) and Premium (same day) services compress processing, never photo standards.

Rejection Reasons and Fixes

Counters reject on a short repeat list. Each cause below pairs with its fix — run through it before every submission, because re-takes cost days and rebooked appointments cost more.

• Stale photos. Under-one-month is strictly enforced — last year's good photo fails.
• Altered images. Filters, beauty modes, and background apps count as computer alteration; shoot clean.
• Wrong ratio. Square US crops fail the 35x45 validator — select the UK preset from the start.
• Shadows and red-eye. Side-window light plus no direct flash fixes both.
• Glasses glare. Remove unless medically necessary; tinted or reflective pairs always fail.

Digital Application Walkthrough: Code to Submit

With a booth code, the online form pulls the photo automatically after code entry — verify the preview matches the printed strip before continuing, since wrong-code entries attach strangers' photos and trigger identity queries. With a device photo, the form guides capture live: helper holds the phone, subject faces the window, and the system checks quality instantly with retake prompts. Either path ends at the same validator, so pass/fail happens before payment, never after. Save the application reference alongside the photo code; both are needed for tracking and countersigning steps.

Common digital stalls include expired codes (booth codes carry validity windows — use promptly), oversized files beyond the 10MB ceiling from uncompressed uploads, and auto-translate rewriting form fields mid-application. Disable translation on the gov.uk domain for the session, export reasonable file sizes, and enter codes carefully character by character.

Paper Form Route: Prints and Post

Paper applications need two identical 35x45mm prints meeting every visual rule, attached as directed with one countersigned where required. Write nothing on the prints themselves; the countersignature goes on the form and the photo back only where instructions say so. Post by tracked delivery and keep the tracking number with the application reference — lost paper files without tracking enter a slow manual search. Post Office Check & Send adds a staff review layer for a fee, catching photo and form defects before submission.

Passport Fees and Processing Choices

Adult and child, online and paper, standard and urgent services price differently — confirm the live fee table on gov.uk before paying, since fees revise periodically. Standard processing runs several weeks; Fast Track compresses to about a week and Premium offers same-day collection for eligible renewals, each at higher fees. None of these choices alter photo rules: the one-month freshness clock and 35x45mm spec apply identically across every service tier. Pay the tier your travel date demands, prepare the photo once, correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions