Coming soon to the App Store
Passport & visa photos, framed right
Take passport, visa and ID photos at home that meet the rules. Line yourself up with an outline of the face and shoulders, and the app frames the photo to the official head-size rules for 28 countries and formats, then saves an exact-size print, a print sheet for your paper, or the file an online application asks for. Nothing leaves your iPhone.
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Version 1.0 · Coming soon
The camera draws a reference person as clean lines: hair and head, jaw, eyes, neck and shoulders, with an eye line, a shoulders-level line and a bracket showing exactly how tall your head should be for the format you picked. Match the lines and the photo is already most of the way to compliant. Every one of the 28 formats was checked against the issuing authority's own rules in September 2026.
What is Passport Photos?
Passport Photos turns your iPhone into a passport-photo booth. Pick the country or document, line yourself up with the outline guide, and take the picture, or import one you already have. The app measures your face, crops the photo so your head is the size the authority asks for, checks the framing rule by rule, and hands you an exact-size print, a sheet for your photo paper, or the file an online application wants. Photos never leave your iPhone.
Most rejected passport photos fail on framing, not on the face: a head a few millimetres too big, a crown cut off by the top edge, eyes too low on a square US photo. Passport Photos is built around getting that right. Each format carries the authority's own numbers: the photo size, the chin-to-crown head height, and, where one is published, the eye band or the space above the head (China wants 3 to 5 mm, Japan 4 ± 2 mm).
After you take the photo, one on-device Vision pass finds your eyes, chin and head tilt, and uses person segmentation to find the true top of your hair, which is where authorities measure from. Guessing the crown from the face box, as simpler apps do, makes heads come out 7 to 12% too big: enough to fail the UK and EU maximums. The crop is then fitted automatically, and you can pinch and drag while the checklist updates live.
Where an authority says it rejects digitally altered photos (the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia and others), the background and light tools still work but tell you so, and the export repeats the warning only if you actually edited the photo.
The App Store set is one continuous picture, so keep swiping.
Swipe or scroll sideways: each panel picks up where the last one ends.
A reference person drawn as lines over the camera: head, face, neck and shoulders, with an eye line, a shoulders-level line and a head-height bracket. Switch to the photo guide, and choose from four reference people.
Passports, visas and online uploads across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, each checked against the issuing authority's published rules. Search by country, alias or size, or set a custom size.
The crown is measured from the top of your hair and the chin from the jaw line, then the crop lands your head, eyes and top margin inside the official ranges. Pinch and drag to fine-tune.
Head height, head inside the frame, space above the head, centring, head level, shoulders level, eye height and print sharpness, each ticked off as you adjust.
White, off-white, light grey, grey, cream, light blue, sky blue, blue and red, with the colours your format accepts marked first. Or pick any colour at all.
Seven looks, previewed on your own face: Original, Auto, Bright, Soft Light, Warm, Cool and Crisp. Fine-tune brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth, shadows, highlights and sharpness.
Lay the photos out for 4 × 6 in, 10 × 15 cm, 5 × 7 in, A4 or US Letter, with cut guides and a 20 mm scale bar so you can check the print came out at actual size.
No accounts, no servers, no analytics. Face detection, segmentation and every edit run on the device; photos are saved only when you tap Save.
A few of the 28 formats, drawn to scale with the head where each authority wants it.
Plus the UK (head 29 to 34 mm), India (face 80 to 85%), Russia, Singapore, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco, South Africa, the DV lottery and more, and any custom size.
Quick facts about Passport Photos for iOS
Effective date: July 26, 2026Last updated: October 8, 2026
Your photos never leave your iPhone. Passport Photos has no accounts, no servers and no analytics. Face detection, background replacement and every adjustment run on the device, and finished photos are saved only where you choose. We collect nothing, so there is nothing to sell, share or delete.
CS42.org ("we", "us", "our") built Passport Photos as a free application. This policy explains what the app handles and where it goes. The short version: nowhere. Passport Photos has no accounts, no servers and no analytics, and it contains no code that transmits your photos or data.
Nothing. We operate no servers for the app and receive no data from it. We cannot see your photos, which country format you picked, or how often you use the app.
None of it is transmitted. The app keeps no photo archive of its own; what you don't save is gone when the session ends.
The camera is used only while the camera screen is open, to show the live preview and take the picture you ask for. The pose guide is drawn on screen and is never part of the captured photo. If you decline camera access, you can still import an existing photo.
Saving uses iOS's add-only permission: the app can add your finished photo to the library but cannot read, browse or index what is already there. Importing uses the system photo picker, which gives the app only the one photo you choose.
Face measurement uses Apple's Vision face landmarks; finding the top of your head, the shoulders and the person for background replacement uses Apple's on-device person segmentation; light and colour adjustments use Core Image. All of it runs entirely on your iPhone or iPad. No image ever leaves the device for processing.
Nothing is shared automatically. When you tap Share, iOS hands the file to whichever app you pick, and from that point that app's privacy policy applies.
The app contains no advertising, no analytics, no crash-reporting services and no tracking identifiers. It does not use the Advertising Identifier and does not "track" you as defined by Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework.
The app is rated 4+. Because we collect no data at all, we hold no personal information about anyone, including children.
There is no request to make of us under GDPR, CCPA or similar laws, because we hold nothing to disclose, correct or erase.
We retain nothing, for any period. The app keeps only the preferences above, on your device, until you delete it.
Your photos are protected by your device's own security: your passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and iOS app sandboxing. Keep your device updated and locked.
No data is transferred anywhere, so no international data transfer takes place.
If this policy changes, the dates at the top change with it, and material changes will be described in the app's release notes.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at hello@cs42.org.
Effective date: July 26, 2026Last updated: September 24, 2026
Passport Photos helps you frame and size a photo to published requirements. It is guidance, not a guarantee: authorities change their rules and apply them with varying strictness, so check the current requirements before you submit. The app is not affiliated with any government, and whether to edit a photo meant for an official document is your decision.
By downloading, installing or using the Passport Photos application ("the App"), published by CS42.org ("we", "us", "our"), you agree to these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree, please do not use the App.
Passport Photos is a free application that helps you take and prepare passport, visa and ID photos. It shows a pose guide over the camera, measures the face in the photo on your device, crops the photo to the published size and head-size rules of the document format you choose, lets you change the background colour and adjust light and colour, and exports exact-size photos, print sheets and files for online applications.
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the App on Apple devices you own or control, in line with the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions. We retain all rights not expressly granted.
Photos you capture, import or export with the App are yours. We claim no ownership of them and, because they are not transmitted to us, we have no access to them. You are responsible for what you photograph and for anything you choose to share.
The App's document formats, head-size rules, background colours and compliance checks reflect requirements published by the issuing authorities when they were last checked (September 2026). They are guidance, not legal advice, and not a guarantee of acceptance. Authorities change their rules and apply them with varying strictness. Always verify the current requirements of the issuing authority before submitting a photo. We are not responsible for rejected applications, fees or delays.
Many authorities reject digitally altered photos, including replaced backgrounds, filters and retouching. The App marks the formats where the authority says so and warns you when you use the background or adjustment tools on them. Whether to edit a photo meant for an official document is your decision and your responsibility.
The App is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or connected to any government, passport office or issuing authority. Country names identify photo formats only.
The reference people in the pose guide are illustrative sample images provided to demonstrate posing. They do not depict real applicants.
Finished photos are saved to your photo library only when you tap Save; the App keeps no archive of its own. You are responsible for managing your device storage and backing up photos you care about.
Saving to Photos, printing and sharing to other apps are handled by Apple and by whichever service you use. Those services have their own terms and privacy policies.
We may add, change or remove features or formats at any time, and we may stop supporting the App.
The App is provided "as is", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and uninterrupted or error-free operation.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, CS42.org is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including rejected applications, travel costs, missed deadlines or loss of photos, arising from your use of the App. Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
You may stop using the App at any time by deleting it. This licence ends automatically if you breach these terms.
These terms are governed by the laws applicable at the developer's place of establishment, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
We may update these terms. The dates at the top change when we do, and continued use after an update means you accept the revised terms.
If you have any questions about these terms, contact us at hello@cs42.org.
Need help with Passport Photos?
Passport Photos isn't on the App Store yet. To hear when it is, leave your email in the launch form above. If you'd like a country added, or have a question, reach out to us. Telling us your iPhone model, iOS version and the format you picked makes it much faster to help:
The app frames and sizes the photo to the authority's published numbers and checks the framing rule by rule, which is where most home photos fail. What it can't judge is everything else a reviewer looks at: an even background, no shadows, a neutral expression, eyes open and clearly visible, and a recent photo. Follow the requirements checklist in the app, and check your authority's current rules before you submit.
Stand in front of a plain wall, hold the phone at eye level about an arm's length away (or better, have someone take it from 1 to 2 m), and move until the top of your hair meets the top of the yellow head bracket, your eyes sit on the eye line and your shoulders run along the shoulders-level line. The guide is scaled to the format you picked, so it changes as you change country. Use the menu at the top of the camera to switch between the outline and the photo guide, or choose a different reference person.
Yes. On the edit screen, open the Background tab and pick a colour: the ones your format accepts are marked with a green badge, and Custom opens a colour picker for anything else. Be aware that many passport authorities, including the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia, say they reject photos with an edited background, and the app warns you when that applies. A real plain wall is always the safest choice.
They correct the light, not the face. Auto balances exposure and colour, Bright lifts a dim indoor photo, Soft Light eases harsh light and face shadows, Warm and Cool counter bluish daylight or yellow bulbs, and Crisp adds a little definition. Each is previewed on your own face, and the sliders fine-tune from there. Keep changes light so the photo still looks exactly like you.
On the export screen, choose the paper you'll print on (4 × 6 in, 10 × 15 cm, 5 × 7 in, A4 or US Letter) and save the print sheet. Print it at 100% or "actual size", never "fit to page", then cut along the grey guides. Where there is room, a 20 mm scale bar on the sheet lets you check the print with a ruler. A 4 × 6 in sheet printed on 10 × 15 cm paper comes out about 1.6% small, which is why the paper choice matters.
If your format has one, use Save for Online Upload: it is rendered to the exact pixel size and file-size range the portal asks for, such as 630 × 810 px under 250 KB for Indian passport applications abroad. For UK online applications, upload the uncropped original, because GOV.UK crops the photo itself. The DV lottery, Saudi eVisa, New Zealand and Nigeria formats are digital-only, so their main photo is already the upload file.
Head tilt is measured from the line through your eyes, and shoulder tilt from your outline. Authorities want both level. A crop can't fix a tilt, so retake the photo facing the camera squarely, with the phone held level.
Use Custom Size at the bottom of the format list and enter the width and height in millimetres. The head size then follows the international ICAO rule of 70 to 80% of the photo height. Email us the country and a link to its official photo rules, and we'll add it.
No. There are no accounts and no servers. Face detection, segmentation and edits run on your iPhone, and photos go only where you save or share them.
Yes, in any orientation. Photos taken with a turned iPad still come out upright.
We typically respond within 48 hours.
