Passport Size Photo Size in cm, Inches & Pixels (India, US, UK)

The standard passport size photo size in India is 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm (35 x 45 mm), which is about 1.38 x 1.77 inches, or 413 x 531 pixels at 300 DPI. The same 35 x 45 mm size is used in the UK, the Schengen area and many other countries. The US is the main exception: its passport photo is a 2 x 2 inch square. Our passport size photo maker crops any photo to these sizes and sets it to 300 DPI for printing.

Passport size photo dimensions at a glance

These are the printed photo sizes. Online applications often add their own digital rules, which are covered below.

Passport size photo size in cm (India)

For Indian passports, visas and most ID forms, "passport size" means 3.5 cm wide by 4.5 cm tall. The photo should be in colour, recent, on a plain white background, with the face clearly filling most of the frame. Guides commonly say the face should take up about 70–80% of the height.

For an Indian passport, the photo is usually taken at the Passport Seva Kendra during your appointment, so check the instructions on the Passport Seva website before printing one yourself. Where you do need your own, other Indian forms use passport-style photos too: exam forms, bank accounts, college admissions and PAN applications (the physical PAN form uses a smaller 3.5 x 2.5 cm photo).

Passport size photo size in inches

• India, UK, Europe: 1.38 x 1.77 inches. Photo shops often round this to "1.4 x 1.8 inch", which is close but slightly larger.
• United States: exactly 2 x 2 inches. The head, measured from chin to top of hair, must be 1 to 1 3/8 inches tall.

If a form gives the size in inches, you can enter inches directly in resize image in cm by switching the unit to Inches.

Passport size photo size in pixels

A photo file has no physical size, only pixels. To turn cm into pixels you need a DPI value: pixels = cm ÷ 2.54 × DPI.

Use 300 DPI for printing. For uploads, follow the pixel numbers the portal gives. Some examples of digital specs that differ from the print size:

• US passport and visa photos online: square, commonly between 600 x 600 and 1200 x 1200 pixels. For US visa and DV lottery uploads, the State Department asks for a JPEG of no more than 240 KB. See our 600 x 600 photo size guide.
• UK digital passport photos: GOV.UK asks for at least 600 pixels wide by 750 pixels tall and a file between 50 KB and 10 MB. Check the current rules on GOV.UK before applying.
• Indian exam forms: each sets its own size, for example 200 x 230 pixels for IBPS. Use the exam photo resizer presets for these.

Passport size photo ratio

The 35 x 45 mm photo has a width-to-height ratio of 7:9, about 0.78. That matters because a phone photo is usually 3:4 (0.75) or 9:16, so it never fits passport size without cropping. If you just resize a phone photo to 3.5 x 4.5 cm without cropping, it will either be squashed or have parts cut off automatically.

The crop image tool has a "Passport 3.5:4.5" ratio. Lock it, drag the box so your face is centred with a little space above the head and your shoulders at the bottom, then crop. For the US, use "Square 1:1".

How to make a passport size photo online free

1. Take a photo against a plain white wall in daylight, facing a window, with someone holding the phone at your eye level.
2. Crop it with the Passport 3.5:4.5 ratio in crop image (or Square 1:1 for the US) to choose the framing yourself.
3. Open passport size photo. It is set to 35 x 45 mm at 300 DPI. For the US, switch the unit to inches and enter 2 x 2.
4. Download the JPG. It prints at the right size when you print at 100% scale.
5. For an online form, compress it to the form's KB limit, for example with compress image to 50 KB.

Everything runs in your browser, so the photo is not uploaded to a server. For lighting, background and pose tips, read how to make a passport size photo at home. To print several on one sheet, see how to print passport size photos at home.

India vs US vs UK: what else differs

Rules change, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm on the official site for the country you are applying to.

Passport size photo in KB

There is no single KB size for a passport photo, because KB depends on the pixels and compression, not the print size. A 413 x 531 px JPG is typically well under 200 KB. Forms set their own limits: many Indian exam portals want 20–50 KB or 10–200 KB, and US visa uploads cap at 240 KB. Resize to the pixels first, then compress to the limit.

Common mistakes

• Using "1.4 x 1.8 inch" as if it were exact. It prints slightly larger than 35 x 45 mm.
• Resizing without cropping, which squashes the face.
• Face too small. Lots of wall and shoulders around a tiny face is the most common home-photo problem.
• Printing with "fit to page", which changes the size. Always print at 100% or actual size.
• Mixing up the US and Indian sizes. A 2 x 2 inch photo will not fit a 3.5 x 4.5 cm box on an Indian form.

Questions