How to Print UK Passport Photos at Home Correctly
Printing your own passport photos is allowed, but three requirements decide whether it works: professional-standard quality, plain white photographic paper, and no border. Here is the process, and where home printing goes wrong.
By Helal · Last updated
Can you print your own UK passport photos at home?
Yes. Nothing in the GOV.UK guidance requires photos to come from a booth or a shop. What it requires is that the print itself meets a standard: photos must be "printed to a professional standard," "clear and in focus," on "plain white photographic paper with no border," "without any creases or tears" and "unmarked on both sides (unless a photo needs to be countersigned)."
That is a real bar, and an ordinary inkjet on ordinary copier paper does not clear it. With photo paper and correct settings, a home printer can. Whether it is worth doing depends on how much you value the fifteen minutes.
When you actually need printed photos
Only for a paper application. If you apply online you upload a digital file or enter a photo code, and no print is involved at all.
For a paper passport form you need two identical printed photos, 45mm high by 35mm wide, with your head measuring 29mm to 34mm from crown to chin.
DVLA is the other common case. Renewing a photocard licence by post requires "a recent printed passport type photo," while renewing online lets you reuse your passport photo or upload a new one. See can you use the same photo for your passport and driving licence.
What you need
- A photo-capable printer. Inkjet, ideally a dedicated photo model. Laser printers are not designed for photographic output and typically produce visible banding and a plasticky sheen.
- Plain white photographic paper. Not matte card, not "premium copier paper." Photo paper. Gloss or satin are both fine; the requirement names the paper type and the colour, not the finish.
- A sharp, compliant source image. The print cannot rescue a soft, shadowed or badly framed photo. Get the lighting and the framing right first.
- A guillotine or sharp craft knife and a steel rule. Scissors will not give you a straight 45mm edge.
The process
1. Prepare the image at the right proportion. You need 45:35, or 9:7. If you are working from a phone photo, crop to that ratio with your head positioned so that, once printed at 45mm tall, the crown-to-chin measurement lands between 29mm and 34mm — about two thirds to three quarters of the frame height.
2. Check the source resolution. For a 45mm × 35mm print at a sensible print density, you want roughly 530 × 410 pixels as an absolute minimum, and comfortably more in practice. A modern phone photo has far more than that unless you cropped a tiny region. Do not upscale a small crop; it will print soft.
3. Lay out multiple copies on one sheet. Print two, four or six at once — you need two identical prints for a paper application, and spares cost almost nothing at this point. Leave a few millimetres of gap between them so you can cut cleanly.
4. Set the printer correctly. This is where most home prints fail:
- Media type: photo paper (matching what you loaded)
- Quality: best or high, not draft or normal
- Scaling: 100% / actual size / no scaling. "Fit to page" will silently resize your photo and destroy the 45 × 35 measurement.
- Borderless: irrelevant if you are cutting the photos out of a larger sheet, which is the easier approach.
5. Print a test on plain paper first. Measure the result with a ruler. It must be exactly 45mm × 35mm. If it is not, scaling is on somewhere — fix it before spending photo paper.
6. Print on photo paper and let it dry. Give inkjet prints several minutes before handling. Wet ink smudges, and a smudged photo is not "clear and in focus."
7. Cut precisely. Straight edges, exact dimensions, no white margin left on any side. "No border" means no border.
8. Write nothing on the back. The photos must be "unmarked on both sides." The only permitted exception is a countersignature where one is required.
Where home printing goes wrong
Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Wrong size after cutting | "Fit to page" scaling | Set scaling to 100% and measure a test print |
Photo has a white border | Layout leaves margin, or bordered print setting | Cut to the image edge; check borderless settings |
Print is soft or fuzzy | Upscaled crop, or draft quality | Use a larger source image; set quality to best |
Visible banding or lines | Wrong media setting, or clogged nozzles | Set media to photo paper; run a head clean |
Colour looks wrong | Printer colour management fighting the file | Let the printer manage colour, or the application — not both |
Photo curls or creases | Handling before dry, or thin paper | Let it dry flat; use proper photo paper |
Ink smudges | Handled too soon | Wait, and cut with a clean blade |
Rejected as "not professional standard" | Copier paper, not photo paper | Use plain white photographic paper |
The colour-management one is worth a note. Both your printer driver and your photo application will offer to manage colour. If both do it, you get a double correction and a visible cast. Pick one.
Laying out a sheet
The easiest approach is to print several photos on one larger sheet and cut them out, which sidesteps borderless printing entirely.
On 6 × 4 inch photo paper (152 × 102mm) you can fit six 45 × 35mm photos comfortably — three across by two down, with a few millimetres of gap between each and a margin at the edges. That is three complete sets for paper applications from a single sheet.
On A4 photo paper you have room for far more. Twenty or more fit easily, which is more than anyone needs, so use A4 only if it is the paper you already own.
Leave gaps, not butt-joins. Two or three millimetres between photos gives you something to cut into. Printing them edge to edge means every cut has to be perfect or you clip a neighbour.
Keep a margin at the sheet edge. Many printers cannot print to the very edge, and content placed there is silently shifted or cropped — which throws off every measurement on the sheet.
Print the same image, not variations. A paper application needs two identical photos. If you print your two best frames rather than two copies of one, they are not identical.
What it costs, honestly
The comparison people want is against a booth or a shop.
Home printing. A pack of photo paper is a few pounds and yields many sheets; ink is the larger variable and depends entirely on your printer. If you already own a working photo printer and paper, the marginal cost of a set is small. If you have to buy a printer, it is not.
The hidden cost is a failed attempt. A print that measures 43mm instead of 45mm is not obviously wrong — it looks like a passport photo. You discover the problem when the application is rejected, and the cost then is measured in weeks, not pounds. See your passport photo was rejected: what happens next.
This is why the test print with a ruler is not optional. It converts an invisible failure into a thirty-second check.
Is it worth doing?
Honestly assessed:
In favour. Photo paper costs a few pounds a pack and one sheet yields several sets. If you already own a decent photo printer and need photos for more than one application, it is cheap.
Against. You are absorbing every variable yourself — scaling, paper, quality settings, colour, cutting accuracy — on top of getting the photograph itself right. A misconfigured driver setting can produce a photo that looks perfect on screen and measures 43mm on paper, and you will not discover it until it is rejected.
The realistic middle. If you are applying online, skip printing entirely — upload a digital file. If you need prints, the decision is between fifteen careful minutes with a ruler and a professionally produced set.
For the wider comparison, see digital vs printed passport photos.
Do not print an already-printed photo
If you have prints and need a digital file, do not photograph or scan them. The Home Office's visa guidance is explicit that a photo must "not be a scan or photo of another photo," and the same reasoning applies to a passport application: rephotographing a print loses a generation of sharpness, picks up the paper's texture, and often adds glare. Go back to the original digital file.
If home printing is not giving you a true-size result, our printed photo products are printed and cut to the exact specification.
Frequently asked questions
Can I print passport photos on normal paper?
No. The requirement is "plain white photographic paper." Copier paper cannot hold photographic detail, absorbs ink unevenly, and will not meet the professional-standard requirement.
What size do I print a UK passport photo?
45mm high by 35mm wide, with the head measuring 29mm to 34mm from crown to chin. Print at 100% scale and measure the result with a ruler before committing photo paper.
How many printed photos do I need?
Two identical prints for a paper passport application. Print spares anyway — they cost almost nothing once the sheet is set up.
Can I write my name on the back of the photo?
No. Printed photos must be "unmarked on both sides," with the only exception being a countersignature where required. Writing on the back invalidates the print.
Does the photo paper need to be glossy?
The requirement specifies "plain white photographic paper with no border" — it names the paper type and colour, not the finish. Gloss and satin both work; what matters is that it is genuine photo paper.
How many passport photos fit on a 6 x 4 sheet?
Six, laid out three across by two down with a few millimetres of gap between each and a margin at the sheet edges. That is three complete sets for paper applications.
Do the two photos have to be identical?
Yes. A paper application requires "2 identical printed photos," which means two copies of the same image — not your two best frames from a session.
What if my printer adds a white border automatically?
Print several photos on one larger sheet and cut them out, which sidesteps the issue entirely. Alternatively, enable borderless printing if your printer supports it and your paper size allows.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Get a passport photo: printed photo requirements
- GOV.UK, Get a passport photo: digital photos
- HM Passport Office, Photo standards (accessible)
- GOV.UK, How to take a photo for a visa application or permission