Need a German passport photo? Upload a recent portrait and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to Germany's official biometric standard — a 35×45 mm photo with your face filling 70–80% of the height, on a plain, single-colour, shadow-free background — with the Germany Passport document already selected. It is free — no payment required.
Important: since 1 May 2025, paper and self-made photos are no longer accepted for a passport applied for inside Germany — there the photo is taken digitally at the passport office or by a photographer. This printed photo is for applying at a German mission abroad (an embassy or consulate), where paper 35×45 mm biometric photos are still accepted.
Germany changed its passport-photo rules on 1 May 2025, and the channel you apply through decides what you can use:
- Inside Germany — paper and self-made photos are no longer accepted. The biometric photo is captured digitally at the passport office, or taken by a photographer who transmits it to the authority over a secured electronic channel.
- At a German mission abroad (an embassy or consulate) — paper 35×45 mm biometric photos are still accepted. You bring two identical biometric photos in person, and you should not cut them to size yourself.
A Germany passport photo for a mission abroad is therefore a printed 35×45 mm biometric photo. IDPhotoBy formats your photo to that size and lays two copies on a printable A4 sheet, so you get the two identical prints a mission expects — nothing to trim by hand. If you are applying inside Germany, use the official digital route instead.
Germany's biometric passport photo (biometrisches Passbild) requirements are set by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in its official Foto-Mustertafel, and applied by the Auswärtiges Amt 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, and borderless.
- Face 70–80% of the height — measured from the tip of the chin to the top of the head, which is about 31.5–36 mm on a 45 mm photo. The head is centred and straight.
- Plain, single-colour, shadow-free background — it must contrast clearly with your face and hair. No specific colour is officially required, only that it is uniform and free of shadows.
- Neutral expression — look straight into the camera with your mouth closed.
- Eyes clearly visible — not covered by hair, and not hidden behind glasses frames.
- Colour photo — with realistic, accurately reproduced skin tones.
- Bareheaded — head coverings are permitted only for religious reasons.
- Recent — a current photo that still looks like you today.
Retouched or filtered photos are not accepted — the official Foto-Mustertafel shows a retouched, filtered photo as a rejected example.
The German passport photo size is 35×45 mm — that is 3.5×4.5 cm, or about 1.38×1.77 inches. The frame is portrait and borderless, with your face filling 70–80% of the height.
IDPhotoBy outputs an 827×1063 px file at 600 dpi, which is exactly 35×45 mm on paper — that figure is our output size, not a number you have to hit yourself.
- Upload a recent, well-lit portrait with the tool on this page — Germany Passport 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 plain background, and that your eyes are clearly visible.
- Download the finished photo, free, and use the printable A4 sheet to print two identical 35×45 mm photos to take to the German mission abroad.
The free German passport photo maker doubles as a size checker and resizer for the photo you already have. There is no app to download — it runs online in your browser.
IDPhotoBy sizes and crops the photo you upload to the 35×45 mm German biometric standard, and checks that the background is a single, uniform colour without shadows. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face — Germany's Foto-Mustertafel lists retouched and filtered photos as rejected examples, so your face is left exactly as it is.
We also make no acceptance promise. No online tool can promise a passport photo will be accepted; the file is prepared to the published requirements, and the German mission makes the final decision. What you get is a correctly sized, correctly cropped biometric photo, free, with no paid upsell.
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.
