Free UK Driving Licence Photo to Print at Home

Need a photo for your UK driving licence? First, the honest part. If you renew or change the photo on your photocard licence online, DVLA does not ask you to upload one — it confirms your identity with photo ID like a passport and reuses the photo it already holds. You only supply your own photo when you apply by post with the D1 pack, where DVLA asks for a recent printed passport type photo. IDPhotoBy is a free online tool that formats your photo to that standard — 35×45 mm, head 29–34 mm from crown to chin, on a plain cream or light grey background — and gives you a print-ready A4 sheet to print at home. It is free — no payment required.

IDPhotoBy is a free online photo maker for a compliant UK driving licence photo. Upload your photo with the tool on this page — the UK Driving Licence document is already selected — and it will:

• resize and crop it to 35×45 mm with your head 29–34 mm from crown to chin;
• set the plain cream or light grey background the rules require, with your face in clear contrast to it;
• give you a print-ready A4 sheet — your photo laid out several times with cut guides — plus a single digital photo file (a 700×900 px JPEG).

It also works as a size checker for a photo you already have.

UK photocard driving licences have several channels, and only one takes a photo you make yourself:

• Renew or change online: DVLA reuses the photo it already holds — usually your passport photo — so there is nothing to upload.
• At a Post Office: your photo is taken on site, so you don't bring your own.
• By post (the D1 pack): you get a D1 pack of forms from a Post Office that deals with DVLA photocard renewal or vehicle tax, and the checklist asks you to include a recent printed passport type photo (do not sign the back of the photo).

So if you are applying by post — a first provisional driving licence, or a renewal or change sent on the paper D1 form — you supply a printed photo, and that is what IDPhotoBy prepares. Renewing online, you don't need a new photo at all.

For the photo you send by post, DVLA uses the same passport type photo standard as HM Passport Office. Check your photo against these photo requirements before you print:

• Size 35×45 mm — 45 millimetres (mm) high by 35mm wide, and not a cut down version of a larger picture.
• Head 29–34 mm from the crown of your head to your chin — a close-up of your full head and upper shoulders.
• Plain cream or light grey background, your face in clear contrast to the background, with no other objects or people.
• In colour, on plain white photographic paper, printed to a professional standard.
• Plain expression with your mouth closed, eyes open and clearly visible.
• No glasses unless you have to wear them.
• Taken in the last month and unaltered by computer software.

A printed UK driving licence photo measures 45 mm high by 35 mm wide (35×45 mm) — the same size as a UK passport photo — with your head 29–34 mm from crown to chin. IDPhotoBy crops to that and lays it on a print-ready A4 sheet at the correct driving licence photo size.

• Have someone take a recent, well-lit photo of you against a plain, light wall — it is not a selfie, so ask someone else, standing back so your head and shoulders fit.
• Upload your photo with the free tool on this page — the UK Driving Licence document is already selected.
• IDPhotoBy resizes and crops it to 35×45 mm, sets the plain cream or light grey background the rules require, and builds the print-ready A4 sheet.
• Download it free, then print at home on photo paper or take the file to any photo shop, and cut out the photo along the guides.

You can make your UK driving licence photo online free and print it as often as you need — no charge to create or download.

You need a printed photo only when you apply by post. You pick up the D1 pack from a Post Office that deals with DVLA photocard renewal, complete the D1 form, and add your printed photo. One DVLA instruction catches people out: include a recent printed passport type photo (do not sign the back of the photo) — so leave the back of your print blank. Because IDPhotoBy lays several identical prints on one print-ready A4 sheet, you have a spare if one is damaged in the post.

Through the HM Passport Office standard, DVLA requires your photo to be unaltered by computer software. IDPhotoBy respects that: it sizes and crops your photo and sets the plain cream or light grey background the rules require, but never retouches, beautifies or AI-edits your face — your features are left exactly as they are.

And it makes no acceptance promise: some tools claim "guaranteed" acceptance, but no tool can promise that. IDPhotoBy prepares your UK driving licence photo to DVLA's published requirements and leaves the decision to DVLA.

Requirements can change — check the official gov.uk driving licence pages before you apply; DVLA is the final authority on your application.