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ID PhotoGuide

How to Take a Passport Photo at Home (with Your Phone)

Fastly AI Team

Short answer: yes — you can take a compliant passport photo at home with just your phone. You need even lighting, a plain light wall, your face at eye level, and a tool to crop it to the right size and background.

The most important part is the source photo. If the original portrait has shadows, blur, a tilted head, or hidden eyes, cropping software cannot reliably fix it. Spend two minutes setting up the shot before you upload it to the ID photo tool.

Step by step

  1. Find even lighting. Face a window with soft daylight. Avoid overhead lights that cast shadows under the eyes.
  2. Use a plain light wall. A white or light-grey wall is ideal. Stand about 0.5m from the wall so you don't cast a shadow on it.
  3. Position the camera at eye level. Have someone hold the phone about 1 metre away at eye height. Don't use a low or high angle.
  4. Keep a neutral expression. Eyes open, mouth closed, face the camera straight on.
  5. Crop and set the background. Upload the photo to our free ID photo tool — it auto-crops to your country's exact size and applies the correct background.

Common mistakes to avoid

Phone camera setup

  • Use the rear camera if possible; it usually captures sharper detail than the selfie camera.
  • Turn off beauty filters, portrait blur, and aggressive HDR effects.
  • Keep the lens clean and hold the phone steady at eye level.
  • Leave space above the head and around the shoulders so the crop tool can fit the exact requirement.
  • Take three to five photos and choose the sharpest neutral-expression frame.

Background and lighting

Stand near a window during the day, but avoid direct sun. Direct sunlight creates harsh shadows and bright spots that passport systems may reject. A plain wall is best, but it does not need to be perfectly white if you plan to replace the background in Fastly AI. What matters most is that your face and hairline are clearly separated from the background.

Get the exact size right

Different countries use different dimensions — check yours:

Then let our tool handle the cropping and background automatically.

Verify against official rules

Before submitting, compare the result with the current government guidance for your application. For common destinations, check the U.S. Department of State, GOV.UK, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or the embassy/consulate page for the country issuing the document.

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