How to Print Passport Photos — the Rules by Country

You made the photo with our tool — now get it onto paper the way your authority requires. The rules are not universal: some countries accept a home print on photo paper, and one explicitly does not. Verified against official sources, September 2026.

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1. Start with the destination, not the printer

Whether you can print at home depends entirely on where the photo is going. There is no single answer — so here is what the official pages actually say, country by country:

The one to remember: if you are applying for a Canadian passport, do not hand in a home print. The official wording is unambiguous — a professionally printed photo on plain, high-quality photographic paper is required, and home-printed photos or heavyweight paper are not accepted. Use a commercial photo lab for that one.

2. Print settings that apply everywhere

• Print at 100% actual size. Choose “Actual size” / “100%” / “No scaling” in the print dialog — never “Fit to page” or “Shrink to fit”. A silent default shrink is a classic rejection cause, quietly turning 35 × 45 mm into something smaller. Our print calibration page walks through checking this on your printer.
• Borderless (edge to edge). The trimmed photo must be exactly the specified size with no white edge. If your printer cannot print borderless, a lab handles it better.
• 300 DPI at true size. Our exports already meet this. If you resize files yourself, never upscale — a small file printed large goes blurry and gets rejected.
• No software edits. Colour, brightness, background swaps and retouching are all out; the photo must be unaltered by software.

3. Paper, borders and handling

• Photo paper, not office paper. Thin printer paper wrinkles, fades and shows through. Use glossy or matte photo paper — the US explicitly accepts both finishes, and most authorities simply expect photo quality.
• No border, no creases, no marks. The UK requires plain white photographic paper with no border, and no creases or tears.
• Don't submit photocopies or scans (US). The American rules explicitly rule out photocopies and digitally scanned photos — a copy of a print is not a print.
• Not a scaled-down big picture (UK). A print cut down from a larger image is not accepted; it has to be produced at the right size.

4. How many copies to bring

Where a paper photo is required, the count is usually fixed; a small buffer costs nothing and covers a re-application inside the freshness window.

5. Fitting them on a sheet

If you are printing a sheet rather than a single cut photo, the geometry is generous. On one A4 page you can lay out roughly: 36 of the 35 × 45 mm format, 32 of the 45 × 35 mm (UK) format, 20 of the 51 × 51 mm square, or 16 of the 50 × 70 mm (Canada) format — the exact count depends on the gaps you leave for cutting. One application needs only one or two of them, so a single A4 sheet is ample. Our photo print sheet tool lays the copies out for you.

6. When you don't need a print at all

A growing share of applications are digital-first: UK, Australia and NZ passport renewals, US online renewal, Canada e-applications and most e-visa portals take an uploaded file only — no paper photo at all. In those cases our JPG is the deliverable; check the portal's file-size limit and run it through the Image Compressor if it is over the cap (it runs locally, so nothing is uploaded).

Quick checklist

• ✅ Destination checked first — Canada means a professional lab print, not a home one
• ✅ Correct mm size and pixel size for your document (full chart)
• ✅ Printed at 100% actual size, borderless, on photo paper, no creases
• ✅ Two identical copies in hand where a paper photo is required
• ✅ No photocopies or scans (US); no cut-down versions (UK); no software edits anywhere
• ✅ Digital file within the portal limit for online applications

Frequently asked questions

Can I print my passport photo at home?
It depends entirely on the destination. Canada says no: its official page states that photos printed at home, and heavyweight paper, are not accepted, so use a commercial lab. The US allows a home print on matte or glossy photo paper, but not photocopies or digitally scanned photos. The UK allows a home print if it meets a professional standard, on plain white photo paper with no border and no creases or tears.

How many passport photos should I bring?
Where a paper photo is required the count is usually fixed: the US passport and visa want one photo (bring two to be safe), a Schengen visa one to two (bring two), and the UK and Canada want two identical photos. Digital-first renewals and e-visa uploads need no print at all.

What paper should I print passport photos on?
Photo paper, not office paper, because thin printer paper wrinkles and fades. Glossy or matte photo paper both work, and the US explicitly accepts both finishes. The UK is stricter: plain white photographic paper, no border, no creases or tears, and not a cut-down version of a larger picture.

Should I print at 100 percent or fit to page?
Always print at 100 percent actual size. Choose Actual size, 100 percent or No scaling in the print dialog, never Fit to page or Shrink to fit, because a silent default shrink quietly turns 35 by 45 mm into something smaller and is a classic rejection cause. Print borderless so the trimmed photo has no white edge.

Can I submit a photocopy of my passport photo?
Not for the US, where the rules explicitly rule out photocopies and digitally scanned photos, because a copy of a print is not a print. More broadly the photo must be unaltered by software, so no colour, brightness or background edits either.

Do I need a print if I apply online?
Often not. A growing share of applications are digital-first, including UK, Australia and New Zealand passport renewals, US online renewal, Canada e-applications and most e-visa portals, which take an uploaded file only. In those cases the JPG is the deliverable; check the portal's file-size limit and compress if it is over the cap.

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