Australian passport photo size

The guidelines ask for glossy, heavy paper of at least 200 gsm and state that only professionally printed photos will do. An inkjet print from a home printer does not meet that. If you prepare the file here, take it to a photo lab that prints on proper photographic paper, and tell them not to resize it.

Many people will find it simpler to have the photo taken by a professional in the first place. This page is most useful for checking the size of a file you already have, or for preparing one for a lab to print.

From the bottom of the chin to the crown, the face must measure between 32 and 36 millimetres. On a print 45 millimetres tall that is most of the height, somewhere between 378 and 425 of the file's 531 pixels. Frame tightly, leaving only a small margin above the top of the head.

The guidelines are explicit: no editing, retouching or filters, and no removal or replacement of the background. Moles, wrinkles and scars must stay. For this reason, leave the "Replace the background" switch off on this page. Use a plain white or grey wall instead, with even light on your face and no shadows behind you.

The preset crops and scales the picture to the right size. It changes nothing about how you look.

Glasses are not allowed unless they are medically required, and then you need proof. If worn, the frames cannot cover the eyes and the lenses must show no reflection. Permanent piercings may stay when they neither reflect light nor hide part of the face. Make-up should be natural and everyday.

For children under three, the guidelines allow the mouth to be open, but no other person or object may appear in the picture.

The guidelines are written for photographers, and two details are worth passing on. They suggest a focal length of 90 to 130 millimetres in 35 mm film terms and standing at least 1.2 metres from the subject. A phone held at arm's length gives a wide angle that enlarges the nose, so a picture taken from further away looks more like you.