Need a Poland ID card photo — also called a Poland ID card picture — for your dowód osobisty application? Upload a recent, front-facing portrait and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to Poland's official 35×45 mm standard, with the Poland ID Card document already selected. It's free — no payment required.
This page covers the Polish national ID card (dowód osobisty), governed by its own law — the Act of 6 August 2010 on ID cards, a different legal basis from a Polish passport (a separate 2022 act). If you need a passport photo, see our dedicated Polish passport photo page instead.
Poland's ID card photo rules are set by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) and published on gov.pl. Check your photo against this list before you apply:
- Colour photo, 35×45 mm — 35 mm wide by 45 mm high (3.5×4.5 cm), taken no earlier than 6 months before you apply.
- Whole head and upper shoulders, your face taking up 70–80% of the photo. Head size is measured as the chin-to-eyes distance checked against the official MSWiA mask, not just a top-of-hair ruler.
- White background — plain white, evenly lit, free of shadows and decorative elements, with only you in the frame.
- Face the camera straight on, head upright and not tilted, no half-profile; the oval of your face visible.
- Neutral expression, mouth closed, eyebrows fully visible.
- Eyes open and clearly visible with the pupils, not covered by hair, looking straight at the lens, with no red-eye.
- Ears don't need to show — your hairstyle can extend beyond the frame.
- No head covering and no dark-tinted glasses — a head covering worn for religious reasons is allowed with a certificate of religious-community membership, if the whole oval of your face and the line of your ears stay visible; dark glasses only with a disability or medical certificate.
- Corrective glasses and contact lenses allowed if your eyes stay clearly visible, frames don't cover your eyebrows, lenses don't reflect light, and contacts keep your eyes' natural colour and shape.
- Beard, moustache or jewellery allowed if facial hair doesn't hinder recognition and jewellery doesn't cover the oval of your face or disturb the background.
Poland's ID card accepts your photo through two different channels — not the same file:
| Channel | In-person (office) | Online application |
|---|
| Format | Printed colour photo, photo paper | Electronic colour photo file |
| Size | 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm) | At least 492×633 px, same proportions |
| Max file size | n/a (printed) | Up to 2.5 MB |
Unlike the passport's online channel — restricted to a child under 12 — the ID card's online channel has no age qualifier stated in the official rules. IDPhotoBy prepares your photo for the printed 35×45 mm channel; if you're applying online you'll need the separate electronic-photo format above.
- Upload a recent, well-lit, front-facing portrait — Poland ID Card is already selected.
- IDPhotoBy resizes and crops your photo to 35×45 mm with your face at 70–80% of the frame, and checks that your background is a plain white, evenly lit background free of shadows.
- Preview the result, then download the finished photo, free, and print it on photo paper to take to the urząd (office).
The free Poland ID card photo maker doubles as a size checker and resizer for a photo you already have — no app to download.
IDPhotoBy sizes and crops your photo to Poland's 35×45 mm standard and checks that your background is the plain white, evenly lit background the rules require. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face — Poland requires a natural likeness with a natural skin tone.
We make no acceptance promise: no online tool can promise your photo will be accepted, and the office makes the final decision. What you get is a correctly sized, correctly cropped 35×45 mm photo, free, with no paid upsell.
Requirements can change — check the official rules (the Polish Ministry of the Interior and Administration on gov.pl) before you submit; they are the final authority.
