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

Applying for an Italian Schengen visa (a short-stay, up to 90 days, tourist or business visa)? An Italy visa photo — sometimes searched as an Italian visa photo or photo for Italy visa — is a 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm) colour photo on a white background, ICAO format. Upload a recent, clear photo and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to that standard, with the Italy Visa document already selected. One thing to know first: this is a printed photo. Foreign applicants file the Schengen visa application in person, by appointment, at the Consulate General or Embassy of Italy responsible for their place of residence — or at an outsourced centre such as VFS Global acting on the mission's behalf. This page prepares the compliant print you bring; it does not submit anything for you.

The Italy visa photo requirement comes from MAECI (Italy's foreign ministry) via the Schengen visa checklists published by individual Italian consulates and embassies. Check your photo against this list:

• Colour photo, 35×45 mm — ICAO format, full face and front view.
• White background — not grey, not off-white.
• Recent — taken no earlier than 6 months before you apply.
• Genuine physical print — not a scan or a photocopy; those are rejected.
• Unmodified — a current, unedited likeness.

Some checklists also ask for two identical prints, since the photo is glued directly onto the paper application form. Two general good-practice points, though not spelled out for this specific document: keep a neutral expression with eyes clearly visible, and if you wear glasses, avoid lens glare — IDPhotoBy's cropper checks for a clear, centred face by default.

The Italy visa 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. This is the same size used across the Schengen visa system.

Within that frame, your head should measure roughly 32–36 mm from chin to the top of your hair (ideal about 34 mm), with a small margin above the head. IDPhotoBy measures and crops to this band; you do not need to measure it yourself.

IDPhotoBy outputs a print-ready digital file sized exactly to 35×45 mm — you don't need to check pixel dimensions yourself.

An Italian Schengen visa application is filed in person, by appointment, at the Consulate General or Embassy of Italy responsible for where you live — or, in many locations, at VFS Global, the outsourced visa application centre acting on the mission's behalf. Your photo travels with you as a physical document: one consulate's own instructions state the photo "must be glued to the Schengen visa application form, in the top right", and another warns that scanned or photocopied photos will not be accepted. Fingerprints are captured on site; the photo itself is not — you bring it already prepared.

No checked Italian consular instruction describes a digital photo-upload channel here. IDPhotoBy prepares the compliant print (plus a digital copy for your records) — it does not submit anything to the consulate, embassy or VFS Global for you.

• Upload a recent, clear, front-facing photo — the Italy Visa document is already selected.
• IDPhotoBy sizes and crops your photo to 35×45 mm, frames your head to the roughly 32–36 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.
• Download the finished photo and use the printable A4 sheet to print your 35×45 mm photo to bring to your 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 — a visa photo needs to show 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 consulate, embassy or VFS Global staff reviewing your application make that decision.

• A background that isn't white. Some tools suggest "light grey" or an approximate light colour — the Italian consular checklists we checked ask for white, not grey.
• Assuming you can upload the photo online. The visa application is filed in person; the photo is a physical print, glued to the paper form — there is no photo-upload step for the application itself.
• A scanned or photocopied photo. It must be a genuine physical print.
• An old photo. It must be taken within the last 6 months.
• The wrong head size. Aim for roughly 32–36 mm from chin to the top of your hair, not just any close-up crop.
• The wrong size. The photo must be 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm).

Check the official application instructions from the Italian consulate, embassy or visa centre where you apply before your appointment — requirements and the appointment process can vary slightly by mission.