How to Print Passport Photos at Home
A passport photo file has no built-in print size. Here is how to get exactly 35 x 45 mm or 2 x 2 inches out of a home printer, and when not to try.
To print a passport size photo at home, size the file to your country's pixel dimensions, place it in a document at the exact physical size (35 x 45 mm or 2 x 2 inches), print at 100% scale on photo paper, then measure the print with a ruler before you cut it. The step people skip is the middle one. Sending the image file straight to the printer usually comes out the wrong size, because the file does not tell the printer how big to make it.
Why the photo file alone prints at the wrong size
A digital photo is a grid of pixels with no physical size. The size on paper comes from how many pixels the printer packs into each inch (see PPI vs DPI). At 300 pixels per inch, a 413 x 531 pixel photo prints at 34.97 x 44.96 mm, which is 35 x 45 mm. At any other density it prints bigger or smaller.
The files from babapic's passport tools do not store a print density. The 35x45mm passport photo maker gives you a 413 x 531 pixel JPG and the US passport photo maker gives you 600 x 600, which is 2 x 2 inches at 300 pixels per inch. The proportions are right. The JPG's density field is left blank, so how big it prints is up to whatever default the printing app falls back on. That is why you set the size yourself.
Does babapic make a 4x6 print sheet?
No. Every passport tool on the site outputs one photo at the correct pixel size. None of them tiles copies onto a 4 x 6 inch sheet. The collage maker is not a substitute: it scales every photo to fit a square grid cell, so the passport photo loses its exact size. Image to PDF fits the picture inside a margin on an A4, Letter or auto-sized page, so it does not print at a set size either. Use a word processor for the layout, as below.
How to print a passport photo at the exact size
- Make the file. Pick your country from the Passport Photo Maker hub, crop with the drag box, and download the JPG. Everything runs in your browser and the photo is never uploaded.
- Open a blank document in Word, Google Docs, or any editor that lets you type an image's width and height.
- Insert the photo and set its size. Type 3.5 cm wide for a 35 x 45 mm photo, or 2 inches wide for a US 2 x 2. Keep the aspect ratio locked and the height lands at 4.5 cm or 2 inches by itself.
- Copy it for a full sheet. Paste copies in a grid with a small gap between them for cutting. On 4 x 6 inch paper in landscape, eight 35 x 45 mm photos fit (four across, two down, with 2 mm gaps), or four 2 x 2 inch photos (two across, two down). That eight-photo grid leaves only about 3 mm at the sides, so if your printer clips the outer photos, drop to three across.
- Print at 100% scale. In the print dialog, turn off "fit to page", "scale to fit", or borderless expansion. Pick your printer's photo paper setting and its highest quality mode.
- Measure before you cut. Hold a ruler to the print. If it is not 35 mm across (or 2 inches), the scale changed somewhere; fix the setting and print again rather than trimming a wrong-sized photo to fit.
Which paper and printer settings work?
Use real photo paper, not plain office paper. The US State Department accepts glossy or matte photo paper for its 2 x 2 inch photo, and suggests a higher quality print setting or higher DPI if the print comes out poor. The UK is stricter: GOV.UK's photo rules ask for a colour print on plain white photographic paper with no border, "printed to a professional standard", with no creases or tears. Check your own government's rules for anything beyond size; the sizes on this page are only the printing arithmetic.
When home printing is the wrong call
The UK paper route is the clearest case. GOV.UK says a printed photo must not be a cut down version of a larger picture and must meet a professional standard, and it wants two identical prints. A home inkjet sheet you trim with scissors sits awkwardly against both lines, so for a UK paper form a shop print is the safer route. UK online applications take a digital photo instead, so the UK passport photo maker file can be uploaded directly with nothing printed at all.
There is also a middle path: make the file at home, then print the document sheet at a pharmacy photo kiosk. Passport photo near me vs at home compares the options, and how to take a passport photo at home covers getting a photo worth printing in the first place.
FAQ
How many passport photos fit on a 4x6 print?
Eight at 35 x 45 mm (four across, two down, in landscape), or four at 2 x 2 inches with gaps for cutting. Six 2 x 2 photos only fit edge to edge with no gaps or margin. Babapic does not lay out the sheet for you; place the copies in a document at exact size.
What resolution should a passport photo be for printing?
Print at 300 pixels per inch. That makes a 413 x 531 pixel file 35 x 45 mm and a 600 x 600 file 2 x 2 inches.
Why did my passport photo print too big?
The printer or photo app picked its own density, or scaled the image to fill the page. Set the image size in centimetres or inches in a document and print at 100% scale.
Can I print a passport photo on regular paper?
Not for the US or UK. The State Department asks for glossy or matte photo paper and GOV.UK asks for photographic paper.