United Kingdom passport photo size

If you renew or apply online, you need the digital photo, and the application itself will tell you whether it accepts your upload. A four-to-five shape such as 600 by 750 is wider than the printed photo's seven-to-nine shape, so one crop cannot serve both. Choose the preset first, then place the frame.

For a paper form, GOV.UK describes the printed photo as the standard size used in photo booths in the UK and says it must not be a cut-down version of a larger picture. Read that sentence carefully before deciding to print at home.

The two formats are worded differently. For a digital photo the guidance asks for a plain light-coloured background. For a printed photo it asks for a plain cream or light grey background. Neither says white. If your wall is busy, "Replace the background" fills it with a light grey, though you should judge for yourself whether an edited photo is appropriate for your application.

For prints, GOV.UK states that the image of you, from the crown of your head to your chin, must be between 29 and 34 millimetres high. On a 45 millimetre photo that is roughly two thirds of the height. Use the frame to leave space above the hair, then measure the head on the result against the 531 pixel height: it should span about 342 to 401 pixels.

Under the result there are lines with check marks. For the digital preset the pixel line should read 1,200 × 1,500, and the weight should sit between the two limits. A phone picture that was already heavily compressed can weigh less than 50 KB; in that case the file is padded up to the lower limit and the image stays the same.