Key takeaways
- A US 2 by 2 inch photo is 600 by 600 pixels at 300 ppi, and the US visa digital image accepts squares from 600 to 1200 pixels.
- A UK online passport photo must be at least 600 by 750 pixels and 50 KB to 10 MB, and gov.uk asks you not to crop it.
- Crop to the required shape first, then resize with the aspect ratio locked; stretching a face counts as altering the photo and risks rejection.
- The Passport Photo Maker outputs 600 by 600 or 413 by 531 pixel JPEGs and does not remove backgrounds or check head size.
For a US 2 x 2 inch photo, the pixel size is 600 x 600 at 300 pixels per inch. The State Department's visa digital image rules accept any square from 600 x 600 up to 1200 x 1200 pixels. For a UK online passport application, gov.uk asks for at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, and tells you not to crop the photo yourself. Most upload rejections come from the wrong shape, a stretched face or an edited photo, and pixel count is only part of it.
Rules change, so treat the figures below as a starting point and check the official page on the day you apply.
The official numbers
| Country and use | Size | Pixels | Other rules on the official page |
|---|---|---|---|
| US passport, printed | 2 x 2 inches | 600 x 600 at 300 ppi | Head 1 to 1 3/8 inches, chin to top of head; taken within 6 months; no eyeglasses |
| US visa, digital image | Square | 600 x 600 minimum, 1200 x 1200 maximum | JPEG, color (sRGB), 240 kB or less |
| US passport, online renewal | Not set as pixels | Crop inside the application | JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC or HEIF; 54 KB to 10 MB; taken in the last 6 months |
| UK passport, printed | 45 mm high x 35 mm wide | About 413 x 531 at 300 DPI (our calculation) | Head 29 mm to 34 mm; taken in the last month; not cropped from a larger photo |
| UK passport, online | Not set as print size | At least 600 wide x 750 tall | 50 KB to 10 MB; taken in the last month; do not crop it yourself |
For India, check the current rules on passportindia.gov.in before you start. We have not listed India's figures here because we could not confirm them on the official site.
How print sizes turn into pixels
A print size and a pixel size are linked by resolution:
Pixels = inches x pixels per inch
- 2 x 2 inches at 300 ppi: 2 x 300 = 600, so 600 x 600 pixels. The State Department uses exactly this figure for scanned photos.
- 35 x 45 mm at 300 DPI: divide millimeters by 25.4 to get inches. 35 / 25.4 x 300 = 413.4 and 45 / 25.4 x 300 = 531.5, so about 413 x 531 pixels.
The shapes matter as much as the numbers. A US photo is square (1:1). A 35 x 45 mm photo is a portrait shape, a little taller than it is wide. The UK online minimum of 600 x 750 is a 4:5 shape. A photo cut for one of these will not fit another without cropping again.
Crop to the shape first, never stretch
Most phone photos are 4:3 or 3:4, and neither is square or 35:45. To get from one shape to another you have two choices:
- Crop away part of the photo so the remaining area has the right shape. Your face keeps its true proportions.
- Stretch the photo by typing a new width and height with the aspect ratio switched off. Your face gets wider or thinner.
Always crop. A stretched face is the kind of change officials treat as altering your appearance. The US renewal page says it does not accept photos that are edited or filtered, and gov.uk says photos must be unaltered by computer software.
The safe order is: crop to the target shape, then resize to the exact pixels with the aspect ratio locked. In our Image Resizer, "Keep aspect ratio" is ticked by default. Leave it on. If the numbers will not line up, the crop is the wrong shape.
Using the Passport Photo Maker
Our Passport Photo Maker does the crop and resize in one step, in your browser, without uploading the photo. It has three size presets:
| Preset | Output |
|---|---|
| United States (2 x 2 in) | 600 x 600 px |
| UK / Schengen (EU) / India (35 x 45 mm) | 413 x 531 px |
| Generic 2 x 2 in / 51 x 51 mm square | 600 x 600 px |
Drag the photo to position your head and use the zoom slider (1x to 3x) to set the size. It saves one JPEG at 95% quality.
Be clear about what it does not do. It does not remove or replace your background, and it does not check head size or compliance. The white fill only shows where the photo does not cover the frame. It also does not write a DPI value into the file.
Match the preset to the job:
- US visa digital image: the 600 x 600 output fits the square range. If the file comes out above 240 kB, use the Image Compressor in target size mode at around 230 KB. It keeps the pixel dimensions.
- Printing a 35 x 45 mm photo: 413 x 531 is the 300 DPI size for that print.
- UK online application: do not use the 413 x 531 preset. It is below the 600 x 750 minimum, and gov.uk asks for an uncropped photo. Upload the original from your camera.
- US online renewal: the application lets you crop and reposition the photo, so upload the original and crop there.
Fixes for common rejections
| Rejection | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Image too small or low resolution | Below the minimum pixels | Start again from the original, not a resized copy |
| Wrong dimensions or not square | Wrong shape | Crop to 1:1 or the stated shape, then resize |
| Face looks distorted | Stretched with the ratio lock off | Redo from the original with the ratio locked |
| File too large | Over the KB limit | Compress to a target slightly under the limit |
| File too small | Under a minimum such as 50 KB | Compress less, or use more pixels |
| Photo edited or altered | Filters, retouching or background replacement | Take a new, unedited photo against a plain background |
| Unsupported file type | HEIC, WebP or PNG where JPEG is required | Convert to JPG first |
For more on file size caps, our guide on compressing an image to 100KB covers resizing and quality settings in detail.
Frequently asked questions
At 300 pixels per inch, a 2 by 2 inch photo is 600 by 600 pixels. The US State Department uses that figure for scanned photos, and its digital image rules for visas accept any square image from 600 by 600 up to 1200 by 1200 pixels, saved as a JPEG of 240 kB or less.
At 300 DPI, 35 by 45 mm works out to about 413 by 531 pixels. Divide each measurement by 25.4 to convert it to inches, then multiply by 300. That is a print size. For a UK online application, gov.uk asks for at least 600 by 750 pixels instead, so check which one your form needs.
Usually the photo is the wrong shape or below a minimum pixel size. Crop it to the required shape first, such as square for a US photo, then resize with the aspect ratio locked. Work from the original camera photo rather than a copy that has already been shrunk, because pixels removed earlier cannot be added back.
Only with the aspect ratio locked. Typing a new width and height with the ratio lock off stretches the photo and distorts your face, which official pages treat as an altered photo. If the locked numbers do not match the size you need, crop to the correct shape first and then resize.
No. It fills the frame with white before drawing your photo, so white only appears where the photo does not cover the frame. It does not remove or replace the background behind you. Take the photo against a plain light background instead, since official pages also reject photos that have been digitally edited.