Applying for a UK passport by post with the paper application form? You need 2 identical printed photos to send with it — and IDPhotoBy helps you print passport photos at home to the UK standard, free. Upload a recent photo and it sizes and crops it to 35×45 mm — 45 mm high by 35 mm wide — with your head 29–34 mm from crown to chin, on the plain cream or light grey background HM Passport Office asks for. You get a print-ready A4 sheet to download, so you can print at home or take it to a photo shop. It is free — no payment required.
One honest note first: a passport photo is not a selfie. For a paper application gov.uk says "you'll need to provide your own photos" — taken by someone else or a booth. IDPhotoBy does not take the photo; it formats the photo you already have to the UK printed-photo spec.
IDPhotoBy is a free tool that turns a normal portrait into compliant printed passport photos for a UK paper application. Upload your photo with the tool on this page — the UK Passport (offline) 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;
- make sure the photo is on 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 passport photo file (a 700×900 px JPEG).
Print the sheet at home or at any photo shop, cut out the photos, and you have the passport photo prints you post with your form. It doubles as a size checker for a photo you already have — no app to download.
The rules for a UK passport photo are set by HM Passport Office (HMPO) — the same standard whether you apply online or by post; only the format differs. Check your photo against this list before you print:
- Size 35×45 mm — 45 mm high by 35 mm 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 with no border and 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 UK printed passport photo measures 45 mm high by 35 mm wide (35×45 mm). The image of you — from the crown of your head to your chin — must be 29–34 mm high on that photo. IDPhotoBy crops to those measurements and lays the result on a print-ready A4 sheet, so each cut-out photo is the right size. You can print passport photos online through a paid service too, but you don't have to — the sheet here is free to print yourself.
- Have someone take a recent, well-lit photo of you against a plain, light wall — remember, it is not a selfie, so ask someone else to take it, standing back so your head and shoulders fit.
- Upload your photo with the free tool on this page — the UK Passport (offline) 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 print shop, and cut out the photos along the guides.
You can print your own passport photo this way as many times as you need — there is no charge to make or download it. Prefer not to print at home? The same file works at a photo shop; either way the passport photo is free to make here.
You need printed photos only if you apply by post: "You need 2 identical printed photos if you are applying for a passport using a paper form." You pick up a paper application form from your local Post Office, and gov.uk notes it takes longer to apply by post than online. If you apply online instead, you upload a digital passport photo rather than sending prints.
When you send your 2 identical printed photos with the form, gov.uk asks for them to be left loose — not attached to your application form — and separated from each other. IDPhotoBy lays several identical prints on one sheet, so you have spares if one is damaged in the post.
gov.uk asks for printed photos in colour on plain white photographic paper with no border and printed to a professional standard. A home inkjet on ordinary paper may not reach that, so for the best result print the print-ready A4 sheet on photo paper, or take the file to a photo shop. Either way the photo is already sized to the UK spec — you only choose how to print it.
gov.uk requires your passport photo to be "unaltered by computer software". IDPhotoBy respects that: it sizes and crops the photo you upload and makes sure it is on the plain cream or light grey background the rules require. It does not retouch, beautify or AI-edit your face — your features are left exactly as they are.
And it makes no acceptance promise. Some tools claim "guaranteed" acceptance; no tool can promise that. IDPhotoBy prepares your printed passport photos to HM Passport Office's published requirements and leaves the decision with HM Passport Office.
Requirements can change — check the official gov.uk passport photo rules before you apply; HM Passport Office is the final authority on whether a photo is accepted.
