Check whether a photo file will clear a portal’s automatic gates on format, pixels, file size and aspect ratio — before you upload it. Pick your destination, drop the file, and read the pass/fail list. The file is read on your device; nothing is uploaded.

What this checks: the file’s overall format, pixel dimensions, aspect ratio and size against the destination’s published rules. What it does not check: the face, the background, the exposure or the head size inside the image.

Will your photo clear the upload gate? Check the file first

An online application usually fails on the boring things before it fails on anything visual. The automatic gate reads the file — its format, its pixel dimensions, its size in bytes — and rejects it before a human or a face-check ever runs. The common reasons are a wrong pixel count, the wrong format (HEIC, PNG or PDF where JPEG is required), a file over the size cap, and, for fixed-size portals, a crop that is slightly the wrong shape.

This preflight reads exactly those things. It does not decode the image for faces or background — that is the job of the passport photo checker, which works one level up, on the canvas rather than the file. Run this one first: there is no point checking a face on a file the portal will refuse to open.

There is no single worldwide pass line

Portals disagree on the numbers, so a tool that prints one global verdict would be lying to you. The UK passport service asks for a photo that is at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall and a file of at least 50 KB and no more than 10 MB. Singapore’s ICA e-Service wants 400×514 pixels for an upload. The US DV lottery caps the file at 240 kB. That is why this tool asks you to choose a destination and then judges against that source’s published rules only — the numbers are cited, not invented.

The order that saves a re-application

Work down the list: format first — a JPEG, because a copy of a print is not a print and most portals want “.jpg”; then pixels — meet the floor or the exact box; then file size — inside the KB band, which the image compressor handles; and only then aspect ratio, where an off-shape crop is fixed with the image cropper. Resizing to exact pixels is the image resizer’s job. The full rules per portal are written up in the digital file requirements guide.

What the file gate cannot tell you

A file can pass every number here and still be refused, because the gate that follows looks at the picture: is the head the right size, is the background plain and light, is the face in focus, are the eyes open. Those are exactly the checks the passport photo checker runs. If a photo was refused and you are not sure which gate caught it, the reasons are collected in top rejection reasons.

Frequently asked questions

Does this tool upload my photo?
No. The file is read into memory in your browser and only its metadata is examined — the file type, the size in bytes and the image's natural pixel dimensions. Nothing is sent to a server, and there is no account.

How is this different from the passport photo checker?
This is a file-level preflight: it looks at the file itself — format, pixels, size and aspect ratio. The passport photo checker is a canvas-level check: it looks inside the image at the face, the head size, the background and the exposure. Use them in order: file first, then photo.

Which rules does it judge against?
Whichever destination you select. Portals disagree, so there is no single worldwide pass line: the UK asks for at least 600×750 pixels and 50 KB to 10 MB, Singapore's ICA e-Service wants 400×514 pixels, and the US DV lottery caps the file at 240 kB. Pick your destination and the numbers follow that source.

Why does my photo fail on file size?
Uploads usually fail on pixels and kilobytes before anything else. If the file is over the cap, compress it; if it is under the minimum, re-export at higher quality. The checklist is: get the dimensions right, then the file size, then the shape.

Why does the format check fail for a PNG or HEIC?
Many portals want JPEG specifically, so a PNG, HEIC or PDF fails the format gate even when the image looks perfect. Re-save as JPEG (a “.jpg”) before uploading.

What does it not check?
It cannot see whether your face is the right size, whether the background is plain, or whether the lighting is even. Those are canvas-level checks — finish with the passport photo checker once the file itself passes.

Related: the file-level rules are in digital file requirements; fix size with the image compressor, pixels with the image resizer and the shape with the image cropper; then check the photo itself with the passport photo checker. Everything else lives in all tools.

Digital file rules ← All tools