Compress a photo for a passport application
Get a photo under common online application size limits.
- Private by defaultDeleted within an hour
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How it works
Add your images
Drag and drop, paste, or pick files. They upload over an encrypted connection.
Pick a quality or a target size
Use the quality slider, or tell it exactly how many KB or MB you need.
Download
Save each file, or grab them all at once as a ZIP.
Passport and visa application systems usually enforce both a maximum file size and specific pixel dimensions or an aspect ratio, and the exact numbers vary by country and change over time. This tool handles the file-size side reliably: pick a target such as 200 KB and it searches for the best quality that fits, with Resize available if specific pixel dimensions are also required.
This tool does not check facial position, background colour, expression or any other requirement a specific country's passport office enforces; those rules vary and must be checked against your own country's official guidance before you submit a photo.
Your photo is uploaded over an encrypted connection and processed on our own servers in the EU; we do not keep the original, and the result is deleted within one hour, which matters given how sensitive an identity document photo is. Always open the result afterward and check it visually against the application's own example photo before submitting, since file size is only one of several requirements.
The three rules an online application checks
Upload systems for passports, visas and ID cards test a photo automatically before a person ever sees it, and nearly all of them test the same three things: the file type, the file size and the pixel dimensions. The type is almost always JPEG, which is what this page produces. The size is a ceiling, sometimes with a floor as well. The dimensions are given either as exact pixels or as a minimum together with a shape, such as a square or the 35 by 45 millimetre portrait used across Europe.
The figures are different for every country and they change. Take them from the official page of the application you are filling in, never from a blog post or a tool.
Do it in this order: crop, resize, compress
Order matters, because each step changes what the next one works with. Start with Crop. Choose 1:1 if the rules ask for a square, or Free for any other shape, and drag the frame so the head sits where the guidance shows, with a little room around it. Next, open Resize, enter the required size and set the fit to Fill and crop, which brings the picture to the exact shape. If the rules give millimetres, use the Print unit with the stated resolution and the pixels are calculated for you. Only then does the target size do its work, on the final picture.
What compression cannot fix
No setting on this page changes what is in the photograph. Shadows on the face, a tilted head, glasses with glare, a patterned wall or a picture taken too close are all reasons for rejection, and they have to be solved with the camera. Take the photo in daylight facing a window, against a plain light wall, from about a metre and a half away.
There is a separate background tool on this site that replaces a background with white. Check your authority's rules before using it: some reject any photo that has been digitally altered.
Frequently asked questions
Does this check if my photo meets passport photo rules?
No, it only controls file size and, if you choose, pixel dimensions. Facial position, background and other rules must be checked separately against your country's official requirements.
What file size do passport applications usually need?
This varies by country and system; 200 KB is a common upper limit but always check the specific application's own instructions.
Can I set an exact pixel size as well?
Yes, turn on Resize and enter the required width and height.
Will this change my photo's background?
No, background colour and content are not altered by this tool.
My application says the file must be at least 50 KB. Can I guarantee that?
There is no minimum control, but the search returns the largest file that fits under your target. If the result is under the floor, increase the pixel dimensions and it grows.
Is my passport photo stored anywhere?
Not beyond the hour. The original is discarded once it has been processed, and the result is deleted within one hour whether or not you download it.