Is one photograph enough for every Schengen country?

The specification is shared, so a compliant photograph is acceptable anywhere in the area. Individual consulates sometimes ask for two printed copies rather than one, which is a quantity difference rather than a specification difference.

How strict is the 32 to 36 millimetre head rule really?

Strict enough to be worth getting right. It is four millimetres of latitude on a 45 mm photograph, and missions that scan the image rather than eyeballing it will measure it. The guide file exists precisely so you can see whether you are inside it.

Why grey rather than white?

Light grey gives the recognition system a consistent contrast against hair and clothing of any colour. White works for dark hair and fails for blond; grey works for both, which is why the standard specifies it.

No. The expression must be neutral with the mouth closed and both eyes open and visible. A smile changes the geometry of the mouth and cheeks that the biometric comparison relies on.

Schengen Visa Photo — 35 × 45 mm

35 × 45 mm at 300 dpi (413 × 531 px), plain light grey.

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Drop your files here

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Options

Country and document

Sets the millimetre size, the head-height range and the background colour.

Background

Anything but 'keep' cuts you out with a model that runs on this device and puts you on a plain colour. 'Keep' skips the model entirely, so it is instant.

Cutout tightness0%

Only used when the background is being replaced. Raise it to trim a halo, lower it to rescue hair that was cut into.

Print sheet

A sheet tiles as many copies as the paper takes, with a cut line around each. Any print shop can run it.

Also save a framing guide

A second file with the crown and chin bands drawn on, so you can check the head is the right size. Never submit that one.

Show exact numbers

Frame measured in

The frame is written as a percentage so it means the same thing whatever the photograph's resolution.

Frame from the left

Frame from the top

Frame width

Frame height

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Ask about Schengen Visa Photo — 35 × 45 mm

Questions about what this tool does, which option to pick, or what it can and cannot handle.

The question you type here is sent to an AI provider to be answered — your files and whatever you put in the tool above are not, and the assistant cannot see them. Answers are generated and can be wrong. The tool itself is not guessing: it runs deterministic code on your device.

About the Schengen Visa Photo — 35 × 45 mm

One photograph opens twenty-nine countries, which is the whole point of the Schengen arrangement and also why the specification is tighter than most national ones. The frame is 35 across by 45 down, and the face has to fill between 32 and 36 millimetres of it — something like seventy to eighty per cent of the picture's height. That is a deliberately narrow window, and it exists because the photograph is read by facial-recognition systems at twenty-nine different borders rather than by one consular officer.

The underlying standard is ICAO Document 9303, the same document that governs machine-readable travel documents worldwide. What the visa code adds is a plain light grey background and a requirement that the photograph be no more than six months old.

The most common rejection at a Schengen consulate is not the size. It is lighting: a shadow cast on the background behind the shoulder, or uneven illumination that makes one side of the face brighter than the other. Facial-recognition software treats a shadow as a feature, and an application refused on those grounds usually comes back with no explanation beyond "photo not compliant".

Consulates vary in how strictly they apply the rule. The German and Dutch missions are known for measuring; others glance. Since you cannot tell in advance which one you are visiting, build the photograph to the standard rather than to the average.

A covering worn on religious grounds is accepted where it leaves every feature between jaw and brow unobstructed. Tinted lenses are not accepted at all.

Verify with the consulate you are applying to — each one publishes its own page.

How to use it

1Add a photograph no older than six months, taken face-on with even light on both sides of the face.
2Leave the setting on the Schengen area to get the 35 × 45 frame and the 32–36 mm head range.
3Replace the background with light grey unless you already shot against one and the lighting is flat.
4Inspect the guide copy. Both bands must contain the crown and the chin — this range is narrower than most.
5Download one image for a digital application, or a printed sheet if the consulate wants a physical photograph.

Questions

Is one photograph enough for every Schengen country?: The specification is shared, so a compliant photograph is acceptable anywhere in the area. Individual consulates sometimes ask for two printed copies rather than one, which is a quantity difference rather than a specification difference.
How strict is the 32 to 36 millimetre head rule really?: Strict enough to be worth getting right. It is four millimetres of latitude on a 45 mm photograph, and missions that scan the image rather than eyeballing it will measure it. The guide file exists precisely so you can see whether you are inside it.
Why grey rather than white?: Light grey gives the recognition system a consistent contrast against hair and clothing of any colour. White works for dark hair and fails for blond; grey works for both, which is why the standard specifies it.
Can I smile?: No. The expression must be neutral with the mouth closed and both eyes open and visible. A smile changes the geometry of the mouth and cheeks that the biometric comparison relies on.