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ID photo maker free, correct size

By ShinobiTools Team · Last updated: July 2026

Need a photo for an ID card, driving licence, residence permit, student card or work badge? Most use the same 35×45 mm portrait format as a passport. Upload any straight-on photo and PassportNinja sizes it, checks the head height and gives it a plain white background — free.

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Most ID documents share the passport format

You rarely need a special "ID photo" — national ID cards, driving licences and residence permits in most of Europe use the same 35×45 mm portrait as the passport, and many other documents (student cards, work badges, transit passes, applications) simply need a neat head-and-shoulders shot on a plain background. Pick the matching country template and PassportNinja produces a document-ready photo.

• National ID cards and residence permits — usually 35×45 mm
• Driving licences — most use 35×45 mm too
• Student cards, work badges, club and gym passes — a plain head-and-shoulders shot
• Visa and passport uploads — pick the specific country/visa template

What makes a photo document-ready

Whatever the document, the same basics apply: face the camera straight-on, neutral expression with your mouth closed, both eyes open, even lighting with no shadows, and a plain background. PassportNinja handles the size, the head position and the white background; you handle the expression and the lighting.

PassportNinja handles the mechanical part: it crops to the exact size, scales your head to the required height and replaces the background with plain white, then gives you a digital file at 600 dpi plus a printable 10×15 cm sheet. It does not judge lighting, expression or glasses, and it can't guarantee acceptance — that's always the issuing office's call. Follow the checklist for the things a tool can't see.

How to make an ID photo

1. Open the tool and pick the country/document your ID uses (most are 35×45 mm).
2. Upload a straight-on photo taken from about 1.5 m against any background.
3. Let PassportNinja crop to size, check the head height and whiten the background.
4. Download the digital photo, or the 10×15 cm print sheet for a physical copy.

Which ID actually needs which size

"ID photo" covers a lot of documents, and most of them quietly reuse a passport specification rather than inventing their own. Knowing which one your document follows saves a re-shoot:

• 35 × 45 mm is the workhorse: European national ID cards, driving licences in much of Europe, residence permits, Schengen visas, most student and staff cards, gun and fishing licences, professional registrations. If you're in Europe and no size is stated, this is almost certainly it.
• 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm square) for the United States and India, and for a number of visa applications that follow the US convention.
• 50 × 70 mm for Canada and Brazil — noticeably larger, and not interchangeable with anything else.
• 33 × 48 mm for China.
• A pixel size with no millimetres at all for purely digital systems: the US DV-Lottery wants exactly 600 × 600 px, China's COVA wants at most 420 × 560 px in a 40–120 KB JPEG. For these, the number of millimetres is irrelevant and the file itself is the specification.

When a form gives you no size, work backwards from the country: pick that country's passport template and you'll be right far more often than not.

What "document-ready" means beyond the size

Every ID specification in the world is built from the same five requirements, because they all exist to make the photo machine-readable rather than flattering:

1. The head is a known fraction of the frame. This is the requirement people miss, and it's the one that gets photos rejected while the millimetres are correct. Chin-to-crown is measured, and it's typically 70–80% of the frame height.
2. The face is evenly lit, with no shadow either on you or on the wall behind you. One overhead lamp fails both at once; a window to one side, or two lamps, works.
3. The background is plain and uniform. Most systems want white; the UK and Australia prefer a light colour, which is a genuine difference rather than pedantry.
4. The expression is neutral. Mouth closed, eyes open and unobstructed, looking straight at the lens. Biometric matching uses fixed points on the face, and a smile moves them.
5. Nothing between the camera and your face. No glasses if you can avoid them, hair clear of the eyes, head coverings only where allowed.

The measurement here is advisory: the head height is measured on the result and reported to you against the template's range, so you know whether to re-shoot before you submit. It's a check, not an approval — the issuing authority makes the actual decision, and any tool that tells you otherwise is overselling.

Common questions