Passport and visa rules often name a background colour — white, light grey, sometimes an exact code. Drop your photo here to read the colour at the four corners and compare it with the rule. The file is read on your device; nothing is uploaded, and nothing is edited.

What this checks: the colour at the four corners of the frame against the rule you pick, and whether the corners are even. What it does not check: the size, exposure or framing of the whole photo — and it never edits, retouches or exports the file.

What colour is your background? The honest rule

Almost every passport rule names the background in words — a ‘plain light-coloured background’ in the UK — and very few publish a number. Greece is the clear exception: its passport service asks for “a light colored background… preferably gray with an RGB value of (190, 190, 190) ± 10”. So “is my background the right colour?” has an exact answer for Greece and only a descriptive one elsewhere — which is why this tool reads as match or check, never fail.

It works in three moves. It samples a small patch at each of the four corners of the frame, averages each patch to one RGB value, and compares it with the rule you picked. The comparison uses the maximum per-channel difference (the Chebyshev distance), which matches how the Greek rule is written as a ± tolerance. It also compares the four corners with each other, so a gradient or uneven lighting — a common reason a background is rejected even when it is the right colour on one side — shows up as a spread. It does not edit, whiten or export anything — judging only, never changing.

What each result means

• match — every corner sits within the target (for Greece, within ± 10 of RGB 190), and the corners are even.
• check — a corner is off the target, or the corners differ too much (a gradient or uneven light). A prompt to look again, not a rejection by itself.
• unknown — the corners are too dark to judge a colour. No verdict is given rather than a misleading one.

What the official rules actually say

• Greece — “A light colored background is required, preferably gray with an RGB value of (190, 190, 190) ± 10”, and “the background… should be uniform, free of patterns or shadows or other objects” (passport.gov.gr).
• United Kingdom — the photo must be “taken against a plain light-coloured background” and be “in clear contrast to the background” (GOV.UK). No colour code is published.

This is the gap the tool has to respect: where a number exists (Greece) a corner outside it can be flagged precisely; where the rule is only words (the UK), the tool reads whether the background is genuinely light and even, and never calls a shade wrong on its own. For the full comparison of white, grey and blue backgrounds, see the background colour guide.

Why the corners, and why evenness matters

• Corners are pure background — the face and hair sit in the middle, so the four corners are the least contaminated sample of the true background colour.
• A gradient fails even at the right colour — if one side is lit and the other is in shade, the corners disagree and the background is not “uniform” as the rule requires.
• Shadow in the corner reads as a darker colour — step away from the wall and move the light in front of you before shooting again.

Related checks

Background colour is one rule among several. If the background is the right colour but the wrong shade across the frame, the photo shadow checker looks for hidden shadows; to normalise a background toward plain white, use the white background tool; run the whole photo through the passport photo checker, and browse every official background by country in photo sizes.

Frequently asked questions

What RGB is the grey background for Greece?
Greece asks for grey at RGB (190, 190, 190) with a tolerance of about ± 10. This tool compares your corners against exactly that.

My background is white — is that wrong?
Not automatically. Many countries, including the UK, ask for a plain light-coloured background, which white satisfies. Only where a rule names an exact colour does a different shade get flagged, and even then as “check”, not “fail”.

Why do the four corners give different values?
A difference between corners means a gradient or uneven lighting — usually a shadow from one side. The background should be uniform, so aim for even light and step away from the wall.

Does this fix the background colour?
No. This tool only reads the colour; it does not edit, whitener or export. To replace a background you can use the white background tool for a plain white result.

Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read in your browser with JavaScript and never leaves your device; nothing is stored or sent to a server.

Can I check the background of a face-down or busy photo?
Only if the corners are clean background. If the corners contain objects or fall in deep shadow, the reading is not meaningful — the tool says “unknown” rather than guess.

Related: background colours explained in passport photo background colours, shadow testing with the photo shadow checker, a plain-white background with the white background tool, the full check in the passport photo checker, and everything else in all tools.

Source: Greek National Passport and Secure Document Center, Passport Photograph — Supporting Documents (passport.gov.gr/en/diadikasia-ekdosis/documents/specificationphoto.html) — “preferably gray with an RGB value of (190, 190, 190) ± 10”; and GOV.UK, Get a passport photo (gov.uk/photos-for-passports) — “plain light-coloured background… clear contrast to the background”. Retrieved 2026-10-06. Requirements can change, so confirm them on the official page before you apply.

Background colours guide ← All tools