Passport photo size in pixels
By Sucheet BoppanaPublished Updated
There is no single passport photo size in pixels. Each printed photo here is published as a size on paper, and its pixels depend on the resolution it is printed at: at 300 DPI, the US 2 × 2 in photo is 600 × 600 pixels, the UK’s printed 35 × 45 mm photo is 413 × 531, and India’s 3.5 × 4.5 cm photo is 413 × 531. Of the requirements on this page, only the UK’s online photo is published in pixels directly: at least 600 wide and 750 tall. Each size below comes from the authority’s own page, and each was written by Resizo’s passport tool in a recorded run.
Methodology
Nothing on this page was typed from memory. The requirements are the four presets the passport photo tool carries, each stored with the authority’s own page and the day it was read; they are listed under Sources. The pixels come from a benchmark run: Chromium opened the real page, chose each preset by its own button, added a sample picture and caught the download, and sharp, an image library independent of the browser, read the finished width, height and resolution back.
The build and the machine: commit 67ee60b, Chromium 151.0.7922.34, Node v22.23.3, on an Apple M1 Pro running darwin 25.5.0 arm64, measured on October 6, 2026.
The run measured a production build that was already being served, and the benchmark drove it from a separate process.
The samples are synthetic scenes drawn by a script and saved as fixed files, so every run measures the same files: a smooth portrait-shaped one for the printed presets, and a grainy landscape for the UK online photo, which must be at least 50 KB as a file. Neither is a photograph of a person, and neither says anything about whether a real photo would be accepted.
Four passport photo sizes, in pixels
Each row is one requirement as its authority publishes it, the same requirement in pixels, and what the tool actually wrote. The printed rows are converted at 300 DPI, the resolution Resizo uses for a printed preset unless you change it — none of these authorities states one.
| Photo | What the authority publishes | In pixels | What the run wrote |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK passport photo (digital, 600 × 750 px) | at least 600 × 750 px | 600 × 750 | 600 × 750 |
| UK passport photo (printed 45 × 35 mm) | 35 × 45 mm on paper | 413 × 531 at 300 DPI | 413 × 531, 300 DPI |
| US passport photo (printed 2 × 2 in) | 2 × 2 in on paper | 600 × 600 at 300 DPI | 600 × 600, 300 DPI |
| India passport photo (pasted 4.5 × 3.5 cm) | 3.5 × 4.5 cm on paper | 413 × 531 at 300 DPI | 413 × 531, 300 DPI |
The last two columns agree on every row, and that is what the last one is for: a size this page states is a size a file was actually written at, read back by software other than the browser that made it.
Why a printed size has no fixed pixel count
A printed requirement is written the way paper is measured, in inches, centimetres or millimetres, and its pixels depend on how finely it is printed. At 300 DPI the US photo needs 600 × 600; printed at twice the resolution, the same square of paper needs twice as many pixels along each side. A file with the right proportions and fewer pixels still prints the right size, only less sharply.
That is why the printed rows carry a DPI and the UK online row does not. The online service publishes pixels — 600 by 750 as a minimum, with no maximum stated — so there is no paper size to convert and no resolution to write into the file.
Pixels are one rule among several
The right size is necessary and nowhere near enough. The UK online photo must also be between 50 KB and 10 MB as a file, and every requirement here lists things about the photograph itself that software cannot judge — 10 of them for the UK online photo alone, from facing forwards to having been taken in the last month.
Each requirement also says how the photo may be cropped, changed or printed, and a file from any editing tool, Resizo included, can break those rules however exact its pixels are. In each authority’s own words:
- UK passport photo (digital, 600 × 750 px): “Do not crop your photo - it will be done for you.” “Unaltered by computer software.”
- UK passport photo (printed 45 × 35 mm): “Not a cut down version of a larger picture.” “Printed to a professional standard.” “In colour on plain white photographic paper with no border.” “Unaltered by computer software.”
- US passport photo (printed 2 × 2 in): “Print your photo on matte or glossy photo-quality paper.” “Submit the original, unchanged photo. Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence.” “Do not stretch or compress your image to resize it.”
- India passport photo (pasted 4.5 × 3.5 cm): “Photograph should be printed on good quality photo paper.” “Photograph in computer print will not be accepted.” “Photographs cut from group photographs are not acceptable”
Resizo checks the pixel size and the format, plus the file size where an authority sets one and the DPI where the photo is printed, and lists the rest as yours to check. A “Meets” on the passport tool is a statement about those technical rules, never a promise that an application will go through.
Making a photo at one of these sizes
The passport photo tool has each of these four as a button: choose one, add a picture, place the face in the frame, and it writes the size, the format and, for a printed photo, the resolution shown above. It does not check the rules quoted above on cropping, changing and printing, so read them before you use it for an application. To have copies printed, the print sheet lays out as many as fit on 4 × 6 in, 5 × 7 in, Letter (8.5 × 11 in) or A4 (210 × 297 mm) paper at their real size; the same rules say what kind of print is accepted. For a country not listed here, the image size fitter takes whatever numbers your form gives.
Sources
- HM Passport Office, Photos for passports — checked
- HM Passport Office, Photos for passports — photo requirements — checked
- U.S. Department of State, Passport Photos (Last Updated: March 24, 2026) — checked
- Ministry of External Affairs, Passport Seva — Application Form Instruction Booklet V3.0, section B — checked
Where to go next
- Passport & ID Photo — Make a photo at one of these four sizes, with the size, the format and the file checked against the rule.
- Passport Photo Print Sheet — Lay out as many copies of a finished passport photo as fit on 4 × 6 in, 5 × 7 in, Letter (8.5 × 11 in) or A4 (210 × 297 mm) paper, to print at their real size.
- Image Size Fitter — Fit a picture to the pixel size and file size a form states when your country is not listed here.
Frequently asked questions
What is the passport photo size in pixels for India?
3.5 × 4.5 cm on paper, which at 300 DPI is 413 × 531 pixels. The size is the Ministry of External Affairs, Passport Seva’s own; the pixels are that size at the resolution Resizo uses for a printed preset, and a recorded run wrote exactly 413 × 531.
Is 600 × 600 the US passport photo size?
At 300 DPI, yes. The U.S. Department of State publishes the printed photo as 2 × 2 in on paper; 600 × 600 is that size at 300 DPI, which is what Resizo’s US preset writes and records in the file.
What size is a UK passport photo in pixels?
It depends on how you apply. Online, the photo is published in pixels: at least 600 × 750. On paper it is 35 × 45 mm, which at 300 DPI is 413 × 531 pixels.
Does a higher DPI make a better passport photo?
Only if it comes with more pixels. The paper size stays what the authority says; a higher resolution packs more pixels into it, which prints more finely if the original had that much detail to give. Writing a bigger number into a file without more pixels behind it adds no detail; it only asks for a smaller print.