Need a My Number Card photo? Upload a recent portrait and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to Japan's Individual Number Card standard — a 35×45 mm photo on a plain white background — with the Japan My Number Card document already selected. It is free — no payment required.
The My Number Card (Individual Number Card) accepts a photo through two channels, and this page prepares your photo for both: the online application (you upload a JPEG during the smartphone or PC application) and the printed mail application (a printed 45×35 mm photo you send in). You get a print-ready file plus a printable sheet, so one photo covers whichever way you apply.
According to the official My Number Card photo requirements — from J-LIS, the agency that issues the card, on its portal (kojinbango-card.go.jp) — your photo must meet the checklist below. Compare your photo against these before you apply.
- Size 35×45 mm — 45 mm tall by 35 mm wide (4.5 cm × 3.5 cm) for the printed photo.
- Plain white or off-white background — no pattern, no shadow, and no objects such as a chair behind you.
- Taken within the last 6 months — a current photo that looks like you today.
- Front view, bareheaded — face the camera straight on, with no hat.
- Colour or black-and-white — both are accepted.
- No heavy editing — J-LIS states that photos edited with image-editing software may be refused, so use a straight, unedited photo of your face.
The finished photo is scaled to 2.75 cm × 2.20 cm when it is affixed to your Individual Number Card.
The My Number Card photo size is 35×45 mm — that is 3.5 cm wide by 4.5 cm tall. The frame is portrait (taller than it is wide).
IDPhotoBy crops your head to 32–36 mm from the chin to the crown and centres it in the frame. J-LIS does not publish a head-height figure in millimetres, so this 32–36 mm crop is IDPhotoBy's positioning target to keep your head a natural size within the 35×45 mm frame — not an official number you have to hit yourself. The tool outputs an 827×1063 px file at 600 dpi, which is 35×45 mm on paper and also sits inside the online 480–6000 px range, so the same file works for both the print and the online upload.
The My Number Card can be applied for online or by mail, and the photo rules differ slightly between the two — IDPhotoBy prepares a file that fits both.
- Online application (smartphone or PC upload). The uploaded file must be a JPEG in RGB colour (CMYK is not accepted), with a file size between 20 KB and 7 MB and a pixel size of 480–6000 px on each side. IDPhotoBy's output is a JPEG inside these limits, so you can upload it directly during the online My Number Card application.
- Printed mail application. You send a printed 45×35 mm photo with your name and date of birth written on the back. Use the print-ready file or the printable sheet to print at the correct size at home or at a shop.
- Upload a recent, well-lit portrait using the tool on this page — nothing to install, and Japan My Number Card is already selected.
- IDPhotoBy resizes and crops your photo to the 35×45 mm size and helps you meet the plain white background requirement.
- Preview the result — check the head size and position, the plain background, and that your face is sharp and evenly lit.
- Download the finished photo, free, then either upload the JPEG during the online application or print it at 45×35 mm for the mail application.
The free My Number Card photo maker doubles as a size checker and resizer: it takes a photo you already have — including a smartphone selfie — and formats it to the size and crop the application expects. There is no app to download; it runs online in your browser, so making your My Number Card photo online is free and works from anywhere — handy for residents and foreign residents applying for the card. If you would rather not use your own photo, a registered ID photo booth (証明写真機) or a photo studio is the offline alternative.
IDPhotoBy sizes, crops and positions the photo you upload so it matches the 35×45 mm My Number Card standard, and composites the plain white background the card requires. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face. J-LIS is explicit that images edited with image-editing software may be refused and that photos altered so you cannot be identified in person are not accepted — so your face is left exactly as it is.
We also make no acceptance promise. No online tool can promise a photo will be accepted; the file is prepared to the published requirements, and J-LIS makes the final decision. What you get here is a correctly sized, correctly cropped photo, free, with no paid "studio" upsell.
Requirements can change — check the official My Number Card portal (J-LIS) before you submit, and follow its photo examples as the final authority on size, background and head position.
