Driving Licence Photo Checker
Check the photo for a UK photocard driving licence renewal — the passport-type printed photo the DVLA asks for on paper — against the published rules. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Pick United Kingdom in the list (the licence photo is the same passport-type format the UK passport page uses).
2. Click or drag a photo here
JPG or PNG · the file stays on your device
The UK driving licence photo
Renewing a photocard driving licence is not the same as renewing a passport. When the DVLA asks for a photo, gov.uk says it must be a recent printed passport-type photo — and, unlike a passport photo, you do not sign the back. Because it is a passport-type photo, the size is the passport one: 45 mm high × 35 mm wide, with the head 29–34 mm from chin to crown on a plain light background. Those figures are the passport photo requirements the licence pages link to; this page cites them rather than inventing a driving-specific size.
| Item | UK driving licence photo |
|---|---|
| Type | Printed passport-type photo (DVLA wording) |
| Size | 45 mm high × 35 mm wide |
| Head | 29–34 mm chin to crown |
| Background | Plain light-coloured (light grey or cream) |
| Sign the back? | No — the DVLA says do not sign the back |
| When a photo is needed | Paper / Post Office renewal — the online route usually uses your passport number instead |
The full renewal story — the 10-year cycle, the online-versus-paper routes, the prices and the identity rules — is in the UK driving licence photo guide.
Three things that differ from a passport photo
- Do not sign the back. gov.uk is explicit for the licence route: send a recent printed passport-type photo and do not sign the back. This is the licence-line quirk — a passport photo is often signed, this one is not.
- You may not need to send one at all. Online, the DVLA normally takes your 9-digit UK passport number instead of a fresh photo, so no picture is posted in that route.
- It is a passport-type photo. The licence pages link to the passport photo requirements for the format, so the 45 × 35 mm passport figure applies — not a square or a driving-specific size.
About “45 × 45 mm”. Some third-party sites list a 45 × 45 mm square photo for a UK driving licence. That figure does not appear in the official gov.uk material checked here: the requirement is the passport-type photo (45 mm × 35 mm), so this page does not use a 45 × 45 mm size.
Renewal price and the 10-year cycle
gov.uk says you must renew a photocard licence every 10 years, and you get a reminder before it ends. Renewing online costs £14; at a Post Office it is £21.50; by post you use a D1 pack. A replacement licence costs £20. The photo only becomes your problem on the paper / Post Office route.
How the check works
The checker reads the published specification for the format you pick, then measures your image with Canvas: the pixel dimensions and aspect ratio are compared with the published format, a lightweight face detector locates the head for an indicative head-occupancy and eye-line estimate, and the border is sampled for background brightness, evenness and colour cast. Overall exposure and contrast are measured too.
If no face is detected — an unusual crop or an angled shot — the checker says so and falls back to the size-and-ratio checks only, rather than guessing. Items that cannot be judged from a file (print finish, the true printed size, whether the photo is a scan or a photocopy) are listed for you to confirm yourself.
Privacy: everything runs locally in your browser. No image is uploaded, stored or transmitted.
A pre-flight, not the final word. The DVLA decides whether a photo is acceptable; treat the result here as a specification pre-check. A pass here means the measurable requirements are met, not that the licence office will accept the photo.
Related: UK driving licence photo guide · UK passport photo · photo size chart · passport photo checker · printing guide · all tools