600 x 600 Photo Size: How to Make a 600x600 Photo (US Visa, DV)
What a 600 x 600 photo is, how to make one on phone or PC, and the US visa and DV lottery rules: square JPEG, 2 x 2 inch, under 240 KB.
A 600 x 600 photo is a square image 600 pixels wide and 600 pixels tall. It is the minimum size the US State Department accepts for digital visa and DV lottery photos (the maximum is 1200 x 1200), and it equals 2 x 2 inches at 300 DPI. To make one, crop your photo to a square and resize it; our resize image to 600x600 tool does both in your browser without uploading the photo.
How to make a 600 x 600 photo (phone or PC)
- Take a good photo. Plain white or off-white background, even light from the front, face looking straight at the camera, neutral expression. Ask someone else to take it from about 1–1.5 metres away rather than using a selfie.
- Crop to a square. Open crop image, choose "Square 1:1", and drag the box so your head is centred with your shoulders at the bottom. Cropping yourself gives better framing than an automatic centre crop.
- Resize to 600 x 600. Open resize image to 600x600 and choose the cropped photo. It is set to "Crop to fill", so nothing is stretched.
- Check the file size. The size is shown before you download. For US visa and DV uploads it must be 240 KB or less. If it is over, compress it with compress image to 200 KB, which leaves a safe margin, or type 240 in the tool's "Max size (KB)" field.
- Download the JPG and keep the name simple, like
photo.jpg.
On a phone, open the tool in Chrome or Safari and pick the photo from your gallery; no app is needed. iPhone HEIC photos are read directly and saved as JPG.
600 x 600 photo size for US visa and DV lottery
The US State Department's photo requirements apply to both visa applications (such as the DS-160) and the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. The digital image must be:
| Requirement | US visa / DV lottery |
|---|---|
| Shape | Square |
| Pixels | Minimum 600 x 600, maximum 1200 x 1200 (width must equal height) |
| Format | JPEG (.jpg) |
| File size | 240 KB or less |
| Colour | Colour (24 bits per pixel, sRGB), not black and white |
| Background | Plain white or off-white |
| Head size | Chin to top of hair about 50–69% of the image height (1 to 1 3/8 inch on a 2 inch print) |
| Recency | Taken in the last 6 months |
| Glasses | Not allowed |
Always check the current photo requirements on travel.state.gov before submitting. DV entries with a photo that does not meet the rules can be disqualified, so it is worth getting it right rather than fast.
Head size in pixels
On a 600 x 600 image, 50–69% of the height means the head (chin to top of hair) should be roughly 300 to 414 pixels tall. The crop image tool shows the size of the crop box in pixels as you drag, which helps you judge the framing: if your head fills about half to two thirds of the square, you are in range.
600 x 600 vs 2 x 2 inch
They are the same photo described two ways:
- 2 x 2 inches is the physical print size for a US passport or visa photo.
- 600 x 600 pixels is the digital size that prints at 2 x 2 inches when printed at 300 DPI.
So if a form asks for a 2 x 2 inch photo digitally, 600 x 600 is the usual answer. If you need a printed 2 x 2 inch photo, use passport size photo with the unit set to inches, which also writes 300 DPI into the file. For the full country-by-country size list, see passport size photo size in cm, inches and pixels.
Other uses of a 600 x 600 photo
600 x 600 is also a common square size for:
- Profile pictures on job portals and messaging apps.
- Product photos on small online stores and marketplaces.
- Album art and thumbnails on some platforms.
For these, the same tool works. If you want to keep the whole picture instead of cropping the sides, switch "When both sides are set" to Fit inside (white padding); the image is placed in the middle of a white 600 x 600 square. Do not use padding for visa or DV photos; the head must be framed properly in the square.
600*600 photo resize: crop to fill, fit inside or stretch?
The resize tool gives three choices when both width and height are set:
- Crop to fill (default): trims the edges of a non-square photo to make it square. Best for faces.
- Fit inside: keeps everything and adds white bars. Best for products or group photos.
- Stretch: forces the photo into a square and distorts it. Avoid this for any photo of a person.
Common mistakes
- Uploading a non-square photo. A 600 x 800 photo fails the square rule even if it looks fine.
- Stretching instead of cropping, which makes faces look wide.
- Head too small because the photo was taken from too far away or not cropped.
- File over 240 KB. High-quality JPGs straight from some editors can exceed it; compress them.
- Wrong format. PNG, HEIC or WebP files are rejected. Convert with PNG to JPG or HEIC to JPG if needed.
- Edited photos. Filters, beauty modes or background replacement can get a visa or DV photo rejected. Keep it natural.
- Wearing glasses. They are not allowed in US visa photos.
Questions
How do I make a 600 x 600 photo?
Crop the photo to a square around your head and shoulders, then resize it to 600 x 600 pixels and save as JPG. The resize image to 600x600 tool does the square crop and resize in one step in your browser.
Is 600 x 600 pixels the same as 2 x 2 inches?
Yes, at 300 DPI. 2 inches x 300 dots per inch = 600 pixels, so a 600 x 600 photo prints at 2 x 2 inches when printed at 300 DPI.
What is the file size limit for a US visa or DV lottery photo?
The US State Department asks for a JPEG of 240 KB or less. A 600 x 600 JPG is usually well under that; if not, compress it below 240 KB before uploading.
Why does my 600 x 600 photo look stretched?
The original was not square and was stretched to fit. Use a crop-to-fill resize or crop to a 1:1 square first, so the face keeps its natural shape.