Poland Card of the Pole Photo (Karta Polaka) — Make a 35×45 mm Print Photo

Applying for the Card of the Pole (Karta Polaka)? A Karta Polaka photo — sometimes called a Card of the Pole picture — is a 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm) colour photo on a uniform light background. Upload a recent, clear photo and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to that standard, with the Card of the Pole document already selected. This page prepares the printed photo you bring in person to your application; the Card of the Pole has no online photo-upload channel.

The Card of the Pole photo requirement is set out by Poland's voivodeship offices and consulates under the Ustawa o Karcie Polaka (the Card of the Pole Act) — a different legal basis from the Polish passport and ID card. Check your photo against this list:

• Colour photo, 35×45 mm — 35 mm wide by 45 mm high (3.5×4.5 cm), clear ('wyraźna'), taken no earlier than 6 months before you apply.
• Uniform light background — a single, evenly lit, light-coloured background ('jednolite jasne tło'), with even lighting of your face.
• No head covering in the photo.
• No dark-tinted glasses in the photo.

The Card of the Pole 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 uniform light background.

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 measure yourself.

The Card of the Pole is decided by the competent Voivode — for applicants living in Poland, at the voivodeship office covering their area — or by the competent Polish consul, for applicants abroad. That is different from the Polish passport and ID card, which the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) decides.

Filing the application requires personal attendance — you bring the printed photo together with your application form and identity documents. None of the official sources checked for this document describe an electronic or online photo-upload channel for the Card of the Pole, unlike the Polish passport and ID card, which have online-photo sub-channels for some applicants. This page prepares the printed 35×45 mm photo you bring with you; it is not an online upload.

IDPhotoBy has separate pages for a Poland passport photo and a Poland ID card photo — this page is for the Card of the Pole (Karta Polaka) specifically, a different document with its own legal basis (the Ustawa o Karcie Polaka) and its own issuing authority (the voivode or Polish consul, not MSWiA).

The photo rules differ too: this document's background must be a uniform light colour, not necessarily the plain white background the Polish passport and ID card require, and this document's own rules do not state a religious head-covering exception or a medical dark-tinted-glasses exception — do not assume either exception applies here just because it applies to Poland's other documents.

• Upload a recent, clear, front-facing photo — the Card of the Pole document is already selected.
• IDPhotoBy resizes and crops your photo to 35×45 mm and checks that your background is a uniform, evenly lit light colour.
• Preview the result — check the size, the background, and that your face is clearly visible with even lighting.
• Download the finished photo and use the printable A4 sheet to print your 35×45 mm Card of the Pole photo to bring with you.

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.

IDPhotoBy sizes and crops the photo you upload to the Card of the Pole's 35×45 mm standard and checks your background against the required uniform light colour. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face, and it does not add or swap backgrounds as a marketed feature — a clear, unedited, recent likeness is what the rules ask for.

We make no acceptance promise: no online tool can honestly guarantee a photo will be accepted — the voivode or consul reviewing your application makes that decision.

• A background that isn't uniform or isn't light. A patterned, dark or shadowed background does not meet the rule — but you do not need pure white; any uniform light colour works for this document.
• An old photo. It must be taken within the last 6 months.
• A head covering or dark-tinted glasses. Neither is allowed in this photo, and no exception is stated for this document.
• Trying to upload it online. The Card of the Pole application takes a printed photo in person — there is no online photo-upload channel for this document.
• The wrong size. The photo must be 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm).

Requirements can change — check the official Card of the Pole application instructions (your competent voivodeship office, or the Polish consulate where you will apply) before you submit; they are the final authority.