India Passport Photo — 35 × 45 mm

About the India Passport Photo — 35 × 45 mm

Indian passport photographs are 35 by 45 millimetres on a plain white background, submitted through Passport Seva either as a print carried to the appointment or as part of the online application. The face should fill most of it — 25 millimetres at the least, 35 at the most — centred, and looking straight down the lens.

White is not negotiable here in the way that light grey is tolerated elsewhere. The instruction is a white or very light background with no pattern, and the commonest reason a photograph is turned away at a Passport Seva Kendra is a visible wall texture or a shadow falling behind the shoulder. Both are what happens when a photograph is taken indoors against a painted wall, which is where most of them are taken.

The photograph must be recent, printed on matte or glossy photographic paper if physical, and must not be a scan of an older print. A scanned print loses the sharpness the counter staff check for, and the softness is obvious at the size the photograph is reproduced in the booklet.

For children the same dimensions apply, and the face must still be clear and unobstructed — no toys, no hands, no one else's arm in frame.

There is a practical reason to make the file yourself rather than visit a studio: a studio sheet costs a few hundred rupees and takes an afternoon. A 4 × 6 print from any photo shop costs a fraction of that, and this tool lays out eight copies on one.

Confirm the current requirement on passportindia.gov.in before you go.

How to use it

1. 1Add a clear, recent photograph of yourself facing the camera, taken in daylight if possible.
2. 2Keep the country set to India for the 35 × 45 frame and the plain white background it requires.
3. 3Choose the required colour so the wall behind you is replaced with white — this is the step that prevents most rejections.
4. 4Look at the guide file and confirm your head fills the marked zone without the crown touching the top edge.
5. 5Pick the 4 × 6 sheet to get eight copies you can print anywhere for the price of one photograph.

Questions

How many photographs do I need for a passport appointment?

The online Passport Seva process usually needs none physically, since the photograph is captured at the centre. Some categories and some tatkal appointments still ask for prints, and police verification occasionally does. A sheet of eight covers every case and costs less than a single studio visit.

My wall is white but the photo still looks grey. Why?

Because the wall is in shadow. A camera exposes for the face, and a wall lit less brightly than the subject records as grey. Replacing the background solves it outright; moving closer to a window and further from the wall solves it in the camera.

Can I use the same photograph for a visa application?

For many countries yes, but check the size first. Several — the United States, Canada, China, Vietnam — use dimensions that are not 35 × 45, and this tool has a page for each of them.

Is the photograph sent to a server to remove the background?

It is not. The segmentation model is downloaded once to your device and then runs inside this tab, so the picture of your face stays on your own phone or computer throughout.