How to take a passport photo at home with your phone

What you need

• A phone with a decent camera. Use the back camera, which is sharper than the front one.
• Someone to take the photo. Selfies are a common reason for rejection, because a phone held at arm's length distorts your face.
• A plain, light wall with nothing on it. A white door or a white sheet pinned flat works too.
• Daylight from a window, ideally in the morning or afternoon rather than direct midday sun.

Set up the background

Most countries want a plain white or light grey background with no patterns, objects or shadows. Some are stricter: the US and India ask for white or off-white, while the UK accepts cream or light grey.

1. Stand about half a metre in front of the wall, not right up against it. That gap stops your shadow from falling on the background.
2. Remove anything in the frame: picture frames, light switches, door handles, plants.
3. If your wall isn't plain, hang a white sheet and smooth out the creases. Wrinkles show up as shadows.

Get the lighting right

Even light is the difference between a photo that passes and one that's rejected for shadows. You want the same brightness on both sides of your face.

1. Face a window so daylight falls evenly on your face. Don't stand with the window behind you.
2. Turn off overhead lights. They cast shadows under your eyes and nose.
3. Avoid the flash. It causes glare on skin and glasses and a harsh shadow on the wall.
4. If one side of your face looks darker, turn slightly towards the light or hold a white sheet of paper or card on the darker side to bounce light back.

Take the photo

1. Ask your helper to stand about 1 to 1.5 metres away and hold the phone at your eye level. Closer than that, and your nose looks bigger than it is.
2. Don't zoom in. Leave space around you: the photo should show your head, your shoulders and the top of your chest. Altols crops it to the exact size afterwards.
3. Use the phone's normal photo mode, not Portrait mode or beauty filters. Those alter the photo, and edited photos are rejected.
4. Take several shots. It's easier to pick the best than to set everything up again.

How to pose

• Face the camera straight on, with your head level, not tilted or turned.
• Keep a neutral expression with your mouth closed and both eyes open. The US also allows a natural smile without showing teeth.
• Push your hair away from your eyes and the edges of your face.
• Take off your glasses. The US hasn't allowed glasses in passport photos since 2016, and the UK and Australia only allow them when you can't remove them.
• No hats or head coverings, except for religious or medical reasons.
• Wear something in a colour that contrasts with the background. A dark top stands out well against a white wall.

Crop it to the right size

Every country has its own photo size and head size. A US photo is 2 × 2 inches with the head between 1 and 1⅜ inches; most of Europe, Australia and India use 35 × 45 mm with the head around 32 to 36 mm. Cropping by eye rarely gets this right.

Open the Altols page for your document, choose your photo and it finds your face, crops to the official measurements and checks the background, lighting and head position. Your photo stays on your phone throughout.

The one exception is a UK online application: GOV.UK asks you not to crop the photo, because their system does it. Use the free UK photo checker to make sure it's suitable before you upload it.

Print it

1. Download the 6 × 4 inch print sheet. It has several photos with cutting marks.
2. Print it at a photo kiosk in a pharmacy, supermarket or photo shop on glossy 6 × 4 inch (10 × 15 cm) photo paper. One print usually costs well under a dollar.
3. Print at 100% size. Don't choose "fit to page", which shrinks the photos.
4. Cut along the marks with a ruler and a sharp blade or scissors.

Australia asks for photos printed on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm by a dye-sublimation printer, which is what most photo kiosks use. Home inkjet prints aren't accepted.