Applying for a Freedom Pass — the travel pass run by London Councils — needs a freedom pass photo: a passport-sized colour photograph, 35×45 mm, taken within the last 12 months. Upload a recent photo and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to that spec and checks the background, with London Freedom Pass 35x45 mm already selected. It's free — no payment required.
One scope note: this page and our checks are grounded in the Older Person's Freedom Pass — if you're applying for the Disabled Person's Freedom Pass, see the section below.
The rules for a Freedom Pass photo come from London Councils, published on freedompass.org. Check your photo against this list before you apply:
- Size 35×45 mm — London Councils states it as "colour and size 45mm x 35mm".
- Full face, facing forward, without a hat.
- Plain, evenly lit and pale-coloured background, with you clearly visible against it.
- Taken within the last 12 months — recent enough to still be a true likeness of you.
- In colour.
IDPhotoBy formats the photo you already have to this size and background — it does not take the photo for you.
IDPhotoBy is a free Freedom Pass photo maker. Upload your photo with the tool on this page — London Freedom Pass 35x45 mm is already selected — and it will:
- resize and crop it to 35×45 mm;
- check it sits on a plain, pale, evenly lit background;
- output a 700×900 px JPEG, ready to upload or print.
Preview the result, then download it free — no payment required.
You can apply for an Older Person's Freedom Pass, once you're eligible, two ways: online, through the freedompass.org application portal, where you upload your documents including your photo; or by post, enclosing a printed passport-sized colour photograph with your form. This page and tool cover the photo only — the rest of your application has its own requirements, set out on the application portal.
This spec is grounded in the Older Person's Freedom Pass, applied for centrally through freedompass.org. If you're applying for the Disabled Person's Freedom Pass instead, that goes through your own London borough's own application form — there's no single central photo spec for that route, so check your borough's guidance.
We don't promise your photo will be accepted — no online tool can guarantee that; London Councils makes that decision. IDPhotoBy formats the photo you already have to the spec above: the right size, a checked background, no retouching, no background-swap tricks marketed as a feature.
We also stick to what London Councils' guidance actually says, without adding rules it doesn't ask for — no sunglasses ban, no fixed expression, no colour beyond "plain, evenly lit and pale".
And the online upload step is real: the application accepts a photo you upload, not only one you post.
Requirements can change — check the official Freedom Pass application guidance before you apply; London Councils is the final authority on whether a photo is accepted.
