Italy Passport Photo — Make a 35×45 mm Print Photo

Applying for an Italian passport (passaporto)? An Italy passport photo — sometimes called an Italian passport picture or passport image — is a 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm) colour photo on a white background with uniform light. Upload a recent, clear photo and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to that standard, with the Italy Passport document already selected. One thing to know before you start: the passport application itself is not something you upload online — it is filed in person at the Questura or Commissariato di Pubblica Sicurezza (or a consular office abroad). This page prepares the printed photo you bring to that appointment.

The Italy passport photo requirement is set by the Polizia di Stato (Italy's National Police, an agency of the Ministero dell'Interno), on its official 'Il Rilascio del passaporto' instructions. Check your photo against this list:

• Colour photo, 35×45 mm — 35 mm wide by 45 mm high (3.5×4.5 cm), ICAO-standard, taken no earlier than 6 months before you apply.
• White background with uniform light — no shadows, no flash reflections, no red-eye.
• Neutral expression, mouth and lips closed, eyes open and clearly visible, sharp focus, looking directly at the camera, face centred and not in profile.
• Only you in the photo — no other people or objects in the shot.
• Headwear is accepted only for religious reasons, and only if the outline of your face — chin to forehead, both sides — stays fully visible.
• Glasses are allowed if your eyes are clearly visible with no flash reflections on the lenses; tinted lenses (including sunglasses) are not allowed, and the frame must not cover any part of your eyes.

The Italy passport photo size is 35×45 mm — that is 3.5×4.5 cm, or about 1.38×1.77 inches — a portrait-format colour photo on a white background.

Within that frame, your face must cover 70–80% of the photo measured from the base of your chin to your forehead — that works out to a head height of 31.5–36.0 mm (ideal about 33.75 mm) on the 45 mm-tall frame. IDPhotoBy measures and crops to this exact band; you do not need to measure it yourself.

IDPhotoBy outputs an 827×1063 px file at 600 dpi, which prints at exactly 35×45 mm — that figure is our output size, not a number you need to check.

The Italian passport application (la domanda) is filed in person at the Questura or Commissariato di Pubblica Sicurezza — or, for Italians abroad, at the consular office. The online portal, passaportonline.poliziadistato.it (accessed with SPID or CIE), only lets you book the appointment slot; it is not a self-service photo-upload channel for the application itself.

Among the documents you bring to that appointment is one recent, frontal, white-background, ICAO-compliant photograph — and the Polizia di Stato's own instructions specify it must be printed on high-quality, high-resolution photographic paper, handed to the officer as a physical print, not a digital upload. IDPhotoBy prepares exactly that: a correctly sized, cropped, background-checked print (plus a digital copy for your own records) — it does not submit anything to the Polizia di Stato or a consulate on your behalf.

• Upload a recent, clear, front-facing photo — the Italy Passport document is already selected.
• IDPhotoBy resizes and crops your photo to 35×45 mm, frames your head to the 31.5–36.0 mm band, and checks that your background is a plain white.
• Preview the result — check the size, the background, and that your face is clearly visible with even lighting and a neutral expression.
• Download the finished photo and use the printable A4 sheet to print your 35×45 mm photo to bring to your Questura appointment.

The tool also works as a size checker and resizer for a photo you already have. There is no app to download — it runs online in your browser; what you print and bring with you is the compliant photo it prepares.

IDPhotoBy sizes and crops the photo you upload to the 35×45 mm standard and checks your background against the required white. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face, and it does not add or swap backgrounds as a marketed feature — the Polizia di Stato's rule asks for a genuine, current likeness, and an edited one works against you, not for you.

We also make no acceptance promise: no online tool can honestly guarantee a photo will be accepted — the officer reviewing your application at the Questura, Commissariato or consulate makes that decision.

• A background that isn't white. Grey, cream or patterned backgrounds do not meet the rule — it must be white with uniform light.
• An old photo. It must be taken within the last 6 months.
• Wrong head size. Your face must cover 70–80% of the frame, chin to forehead — not just any close-up crop.
• Trying to upload it online. The passport application takes a printed photo to an in-person appointment; the online portal only books that appointment, it does not accept a photo upload for the application.
• Tinted glasses or a heavy frame. Sunglasses and any lens tint are not allowed, and frames must not cover your eyes.
• The wrong size. The photo must be 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm) — not the incomplete 35–40 mm width-only figure some older leaflets still show (they never state a height).

Check the official Polizia di Stato passport instructions (poliziadistato.it) before your appointment — requirements can change; they are the final authority.