How to Take a Passport Photo at Home (US Phone Guide 2026)
Updated September 2026 · Any smartphone · Free 2×2 tool included
Searches for how to take a passport photo at home keep climbing for a simple reason: the State Department charges nothing for a compliant photo and only judges the finished file — 2 × 2 inches, plain background, even light. A drugstore charges from about $8 to $18 for the same rectangle. With any smartphone from the last five years, a white wall and ten minutes, you can shoot, print and cut a compliant US passport photo for under $1. Here is the exact workflow.
- Size: 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) printed, with the head measuring 1 – 1⅜ inches (25 – 35 mm) from chin to crown.
- Background: plain white or off-white — no shadows on your face or on the wall behind you.
- Freshness: taken within the last 6 months; leftovers from your previous application are out.
- Face: neutral expression or a natural closed-mouth smile, both eyes open, and no glasses — banned since November 2016, even without a prescription.
- Digital file: square JPEG, at least 600 × 600 pixels (1200 × 1200 recommended) — which is also the 300-dpi master for printing.
The 7 steps: from plain wall to compliant file
- Face the light. Stand about a meter in front of a large window, window dead ahead. Overcast daylight is the most flattering softbox you will ever get. Never backlit (face goes dark), never side-lit (half the face shadows), never overhead-only (eye-socket shadows). Turn the flash off — direct flash means red eyes, blown skin and a wall shadow behind you. And wipe the lens first.
- Park yourself in front of a white wall. White or off-white, empty: no other people, no objects, no patterns. Keep 0.5 – 1 m between you and the wall so your body casts no shadow onto it and the wall texture stays out of focus. Do not swap in a digital background afterwards — US rules treat altered photos as a red flag.
- Frame at eye level. Use the rear main camera, not the front selfie camera (smaller sensor, close-range distortion). Prop the phone against books or hand it to a helper at roughly 1.2 m, lens at eye height. Leave a small gap above your hair and keep the top of your shoulders visible — the head then lands naturally in the required 25 – 35 mm band (about 50 – 69% of the frame height).
- Set the expression. Relax the jaw, close the mouth, open both eyes, look straight into the lens, hair out of the eyes. A neutral face is the safest; a natural closed-mouth smile is also accepted. No exaggerated grins.
- Take the glasses off. Full ban since November 2016 — prescription, reading and clear frames all included. Glare or a frame shadow is an instant reject. Only a rare medical condition, backed by a signed statement, qualifies for an exception.
- Dial in the camera settings for your operating system (table below) — the goal is an unprocessed, unblurred, high-resolution original.
- Check, don't retouch. Review for the two shadows: on the face and on the wall. No filters, no beauty modes, no manual brightening. Then run the shot through a compliant cropper that fixes the framing without altering the pixels — our free 2 × 2 passport photo tool does it in the browser.
iPhone vs Android: what to switch off before you shoot
Menus move around between models, so treat this as a hunt-list rather than an exact path:
| Setting | iPhone | Android (Samsung, Xiaomi, …) |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait mode | Off — background blur counts as a software alteration | Off too (may be labelled "Portrait" or "Live focus") |
| Beauty / smoothing | Off by default in the native camera — leave it that way and skip third-party camera apps | Often ON by default — open camera settings and disable every skin-smoothing / face-brightening option |
| HDR / AI scene enhance | Smart HDR is fine; aim for a flat, even frame | Switch off scene optimizer / AI enhance — over-processing shifts skin tone |
| Resolution | The 12 MP main sensor already clears 600 × 600 with room to spare | Enable the high-pixel mode (e.g. 50 MP full) if your phone has one, for extra margin |
| Both phones | Rear camera · 3-second timer with the phone leaned on something · expose for the face (slightly dark beats blown out) | |
From file to compliant 2 × 2 print
The pixel math is friendlier than it looks: 2 × 2 inches at 300 dpi is exactly 600 × 600 pixels, so any file at or above 600 × 600 prints sharp, and 1200 × 1200 gives you 600-dpi headroom. Export a 4 × 6 sheet with two 2 × 2 frames side by side (at least 2 mm apart for clean cutting) — a compliant tool builds this sheet for you; the passport photo printing guide covers the layout details.
Then print like this: glossy or matte photo paper (never plain office paper), photo-paper mode selected, and scaling at 100% — never "fit to page". Fit-to-page is the number-one reason home prints come out the wrong size. After printing, measure the frame with a ruler: 51 × 51 mm, head within 25 – 35 mm, then cut on the lines. If you also need the digital version for an online renewal, save the square JPEG at 600 × 600 pixels or better; the upload rules mirror the US visa photo requirements — same square, same pixel floor.
Applying in person? The first US passport checklist (DS-11) asks for one photo but a spare costs nothing — print the sheet and carry both.
Store prices, if you'd rather not DIY
Every figure below is the commonly quoted walk-in rate — check current store pricing before you go, because store pricing moves and coupons are constant.
| Channel | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CVS | about $17.99 | Two 2 × 2 prints in minutes; most locations, no appointment |
| Walgreens | about $16.99 | Two 2 × 2 prints; coupons often shave a few dollars |
| Walmart Photo Center | about $7.64 | Cheapest national chain; same-day pickup |
| USPS | about $15 | Photo taken at selected post offices only — call ahead |
| UPS Store / local studio | about $10–20 | Varies widely by location |
| Costco | — | Ended its passport-photo service in 2021; older posts still list it |
The DIY economics are hard to beat: a 4 × 6 print at a photo kiosk runs about $0.40, and a home inkjet sheet works out around $0.50 — two compliant 2 × 2 photos per sheet, either way.
The top 5 rejection reasons — and the 60-second fix
- Wrong size or head height. Fix: crop with a 2 × 2 template, print at 100%, and measure 51 mm with a ruler before cutting. The top 10 rejection reasons lists the full failure catalogue.
- Shadows on the face or background. Fix: window directly in front, 0.5 – 1 m off the wall, no lamp from above or beside — then re-check both surfaces before you crop.
- Glasses. Fix: take them off. Every style, every tint; see the country-by-country glasses rules if you also need a visa photo.
- Photo older than 6 months. Fix: reshoot. Leftover prints from the last application are retired the moment you renew.
- Expression out of line. Fix: mouth closed, eyes open, straight at the lens — shoot several frames and keep the calmest one (the expression rules explain the line between natural and exaggerated).
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to go to a photographer for a US passport photo?
No. The State Department specifies the finished photo, not where it is taken — a home shot that meets the spec is fully acceptable. A studio or pharmacy is simply the faster option if you have already been rejected once.
Can I use my phone's front camera?
You can, but the rear main camera is the better tool: front sensors are smaller and distort at close range. Prop the phone or use a helper, about 1.2 m away, lens at eye level.
Can I smile in a passport photo?
A natural, closed-mouth smile is accepted; a neutral expression is the safest default. Exaggerated grins and open-mouth laughter are grounds for rejection.
Can I wear glasses?
No. Glasses have been banned for US passport photos since November 2016 — prescription and clear frames included. Only a rare medical condition, documented with a signed statement, qualifies for an exception.
How old can the photo be?
Taken within the last 6 months. When you renew, the old photo is retired even if your appearance has not changed.
How do I print a compliant 2 × 2 at home?
Export a 4 × 6 sheet with two 2 × 2 frames, print on glossy photo paper at 100% scale (never fit-to-page), measure 51 × 51 mm, then cut on the frame lines. Plain paper, auto-scaling and crooked cuts are the three classic failures.
Shooting for another country? The at-home photo guide generalizes the lighting and framing method worldwide, the photo size chart lists every country's dimensions, and all of it lives on the guides hub. For the United States specifically, the 2 × 2 passport photo tool takes your shot from raw selfie to print-ready sheet in about a minute — free, in the browser.
Sources: the State Department's official passport photo specification (2 × 2 in / 51 × 51 mm, 25 – 35 mm head, white or off-white background, glasses ban effective November 2016), its digital photo upload guidance (600 × 600 px minimum, JPEG), and 2026 walk-in pricing cross-checked across major US pharmacy and retail photo services. Store prices change — check current store pricing at the counter. Captured September 2026.