Free Germany ID Card Photo Online — Make a 35×45 mm Personalausweis Photo

Need a Germany ID card photo for your Personalausweis? Upload a recent portrait and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to the official 35×45 mm biometric standard — your face filling 70–80% of the height, on a plain, single-colour, shadow-free background — with the Germany ID Card document already selected. It is free — no payment required.

Important: since 1 May 2025, a Personalausweis applied for inside Germany can no longer use a self-supplied photo — it must be captured digitally at the Personalausweisbehörde (Bürgeramt) or transmitted electronically by a certified photo service. This printed photo is for a German mission abroad (an embassy or consulate), where a paper 35×45 mm biometric photo is still accepted.

Germany's Personalausweisgesetz (PAuswG) changed how the ID card photo is produced on 1 May 2025, and where you apply decides what you can use:

• Inside Germany — the photo must be produced electronically: either a registered photo service transmits it to your local Personalausweisbehörde (Bürgeramt) over a secure channel, or the Bürgeramt captures it on-site. A self-made or self-uploaded photo is not one of the legal options.
• At a German mission abroad (an embassy or consulate) — the Personalausweisverordnung (PAuswV) allows a conventional printed photo, 45×35 mm portrait and borderless, whenever the mission cannot yet capture it electronically.

A Germany ID card photo for a mission abroad is therefore a printed 35×45 mm photo. IDPhotoBy formats your photo to that size, ready to print. Note that even when issued abroad, the card itself is electronic (ePA) — only the application photo stays a paper print. Applying inside Germany? Use the digital route through your Bürgeramt or a certified photo service instead.

Germany's biometric Personalausweis photo requirements are set by the Personalausweisverordnung, applied at German missions abroad. Check your photo against the checklist below before you apply.

• Size 35×45 mm — 35 mm wide by 45 mm high (3.5×4.5 cm), portrait.
• Face 70–80% of the height — chin to the top of the head, about 31.5–36 mm on a 45 mm photo. Head centred and straight.
• Single-colour, shadow-free background — clear contrast to your face and hair. No specific colour is officially required, only that it is uniform and free of shadows; IDPhotoBy checks your background against a plain, light result.
• Neutral expression — straight into the camera, mouth closed.
• Eyes clearly visible — not covered by hair or hidden behind glasses frames.
• Colour photo — realistic, accurately reproduced skin tones.
• Bareheaded — head coverings only for religious reasons, face still visible chin to forehead, no shadow.

Retouched or filtered photos are not accepted.

The German ID card photo size is 35×45 mm — that is 3.5×4.5 cm, or about 1.38×1.77 inches — portrait, with your face filling 70–80% of the height.

You get a print-ready 35×45 mm photo — the same size a German mission abroad accepts — so you never have to measure or resize anything yourself.

• Upload a recent, well-lit portrait taken with a smartphone or digital camera — Germany ID Card is already selected.
• IDPhotoBy resizes and crops your photo to 35×45 mm with your face at 70–80% of the height, and checks that your background is a plain, single colour without shadows.
• Preview the result — check the face size and position, the background, and that your eyes are clearly visible.
• Download the finished photo, free, and print it to bring to your appointment abroad — check with the mission how many copies they need.

The free Germany ID card photo maker also doubles as a size checker for a photo you already have. No app to download — it runs online in your browser.

Inside Germany, a Personalausweis photo must be captured digitally at your Bürgeramt or transmitted by a certified photo service — there is no self-service upload path for that route, and this page does not cover it. What IDPhotoBy prepares is the printed 35×45 mm photo you bring to a German mission abroad, where the paper exception still applies.

IDPhotoBy sizes and crops the photo you upload to that biometric standard and checks that the background is a single, uniform colour without shadows. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face. We also make no acceptance promise: no online tool can guarantee a Personalausweis photo will be accepted, and the mission makes the final decision. What you get is a correctly sized, correctly cropped biometric print, free, with nothing to buy.

• Assuming a printed photo works for the domestic application. Since 1 May 2025 that route needs a digitally captured or securely transmitted photo — print is only for a mission abroad.
• Confusing this with your passport photo. A German ID card (Personalausweis) and a German passport (Reisepass) are different documents, each with its own requirements — this page is for the ID card only.
• An edited or "beautified" photo. Retouching and filters are rejected; use a straight, unedited photo.
• A busy or shadowed background. The background must be a single colour with clear contrast to your face and hair.
• Smiling or an open mouth. Keep a neutral expression, mouth closed, looking straight at the camera.
• The wrong size. The photo must be 35×45 mm.

Requirements and channels can change — check the official rules (Germany's Federal Ministry of the Interior and its Foto-Mustertafel, or the German mission where you will apply) before you submit; they are the final authority.