How to make a U.S. passport photo from your own picture
Crop your photo to the U.S. 2×2 inch format, line your head up with the guide, and download a 600×600 px JPEG under 240 kB, or a 4×6 print sheet with six photos. Your photo stays on your device.
- Take a photo against a plain white or off-white wall, facing the camera, with even light and no glasses. Then drop it here.
- Pick a preset: 600×600 for the DS-160 visa form or DV lottery, 1200×1200 for the largest allowed digital file, or Print 2×2 in.
- Use Zoom and the position sliders until your head fills the oval and your eyes sit in the green band.
- Download the JPEG, or the 4×6 in print sheet to print six copies at a photo counter.
U.S. passport and visa photo rules (at time of writing, October 2026)
| Requirement | Official value |
|---|---|
| Printed size | 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm), on matte or glossy photo-quality paper |
| Head size | 1 to 1 3/8 in (25–35 mm) from chin to top of head, or 50–69% of the image height |
| Eye height | 1 1/8 to 1 3/8 in from the bottom, or 56–69% of the image height |
| Digital image (DS-160 visa, Diversity Visa) | JPEG, square, 600×600 to 1200×1200 px, at most 240 kB, compression ratio 20:1 or less, sRGB colour |
| Scanning a printed photo | 300 pixels per inch (so 2 × 2 in = 600 × 600 px) |
| Online passport renewal | JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC or HEIF, 54 KB to 10 MB. No pixel size is published, and the application lets you crop. |
| Also required | Colour photo taken in the last 6 months, plain white or off-white background, no glasses, neutral expression, no filters or digital changes. |
Sources: travel.state.gov, “Passport Photos”, “Uploading a Digital Photo” (online renewal), and for visas “Photo Requirements”, “Digital Image Requirements” and “Photo Composition Template”. Rules change, so check those pages before you submit. Gridloom is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State.
What this tool does and does not do
It crops your photo to a square, resizes it to the exact pixel size, keeps JPEG quality as high as the file-size limit allows (up to 100%), writes the print resolution into the file (300 dpi for 600×600, so it prints at exactly 2 × 2 in), and shows the compression ratio. It does not retouch your face, replace the background or decide whether the photo will be accepted. The State Department does not allow digital changes, so if the background or lighting is wrong, retake the photo instead of editing it.
Printing at home or at a photo counter
The print-sheet button makes a 6 × 4 in (1800 × 1200 px, 300 dpi) JPEG with six 2 × 2 in copies and light cut lines. Order it as a regular 4×6 print with no cropping or “fit to page” scaling, then cut along the lines. Check one print with a ruler: each photo must measure exactly 2 inches.
How the compressor hits an exact size
The tool decodes your image in the browser, then re-encodes it with the browser's own JPEG, WebP or PNG encoder. For JPEG and WebP it runs a binary search on the quality setting — usually 6 to 10 test encodes — and keeps the highest quality whose file is at or under your target. If even a low quality (40%) is still too large, it reduces the pixel dimensions by the amount the byte count suggests, then searches quality again, so you get the largest picture that fits rather than a blocky one. PNG is lossless, so for PNG only the dimensions change. If your file is already under the target and you keep the same format, the original is returned untouched.
Everything happens on your device with the Canvas API; nothing is uploaded, and the re-encoded file does not carry the original EXIF metadata (camera, GPS).
Frequently asked questions
What size is a U.S. passport photo in pixels?
2 × 2 inches at 300 pixels per inch, which is 600 × 600 pixels. Digital uploads for the DS-160 visa form and the Diversity Visa lottery accept square JPEGs from 600×600 up to 1200×1200 pixels.
How do I make my passport photo under 240 KB?
Choose the 600×600 or 1200×1200 preset. The tool targets 234 KB (239,616 bytes), which is under 240 kB however a site counts kilobytes, and searches JPEG quality up to 100% so the file is as sharp as the limit allows.
What does “compression ratio 20:1 or less” mean?
It compares the raw image size (width × height × 3 bytes) with the file size. A 600×600 photo is 1,080,000 bytes raw, so the JPEG must be at least 54,000 bytes. At 1200×1200 that minimum is 216,000 bytes. The tool shows the ratio and warns you if it is above 20:1.
How do I print passport photos at home or at a pharmacy?
Click “Download 4×6 in print sheet”. It contains six 2 × 2 in photos at 300 dpi. Print it as a standard 4×6 photo on photo paper with no scaling, then cut along the guide lines and measure one with a ruler.
Can this tool make my background white?
No, on purpose. The State Department does not accept photos that have been digitally altered, including replaced backgrounds. Stand in front of a white or off-white wall or sheet and retake the photo.
Can I use it for other countries' passport photos?
You can type any size under Dimensions with “Crop to exact size”. For example, a 35 × 45 mm photo at 300 dpi is 413 × 531 px. The head guide only matches U.S. rules, so check that country's official requirements.
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. Compression runs entirely in your browser using the Canvas API. The image never leaves your device, which also makes it safe for ID photos and signatures.
Is it free?
Yes. Compressing one image at a time is free with no signup and no watermark. Gridloom Pro adds batch compression of many images with a single ZIP download.