US Passport Photo Tool — Make a 2x2 Passport Photo Online for Free

Yes, you can. Our online passport photo maker, PhotoGov, gives two free ID photos per day, depending on your location. Just upload your selfie, choose "United States" → "US Passport 2 × 2 inch" as your document type, and download your ready-to-apply 2x2 photo in a digital or printable format. In the US, a digital photo costs $6.90.

You can take your US passport photos at home in 8 simple steps:

Find a well-lit spot, preferably near a window

If you don’t have a white wall, arrange a white picture blanket as a backdrop.

Place your iPhone on a tripod, approximately 50 inches from your face. If you’re using your iPhone’s front camera, hold it steady, approximately 20 inches from your face.

Disable Portrait mode. For a more convenient process, set the timer for 10 seconds.

Look directly into the camera with your eyes open and mouth closed. Don’t smile.

Take a few headshots and upload the best one to our US passport photo tool.

Wait about 30 seconds while your image is being processed.

Choose premium features such as human verification or a printable PDF sheet.

Download your application-ready US passport photo.

A separate guide answers the question “can you smile in a U.S. passport photo” and explains why a neutral face is safer.

PhotoGov is ranked number one in the ID photo-making tools category on Trustpilot. You can use it as a US passport photo tool that generates US passport photos aligned with the U.S. Department of State standards. Upload a selfie, and the system will format it to the correct dimensions and generate a file suitable for online passport renewal uploads or printing for in-person and mail-in passport applications.

Yes. PhotoGov prepares your photo as a square JPEG for online U.S. passport renewal, with the head size, positioning, and background set automatically. Once you submit your application, the U.S. Department of State reviews the photo and makes the final decision on its acceptance.

Yes. The tool works for baby and child passport photos: you get a 2 × 2-inch photo with the head sized at 1–1⅜ inches, cropped and framed. It is okay if an infant’s eyes are not entirely open; older children must have their eyes open. The hard part is the source photo: the child has to be alone in frame, no parents' hands or arms visible, no toys or pacifiers, no shadows from someone holding a backdrop. We have a dedicated Baby and Child Passport Photo Tool with a guide for taking the source photo of an infant or toddler — once you have a usable one, the tool produces the deliverable in seconds.

Yes. The printable PDF you download from PhotoGov is laid out on a standard 4 × 6-inch photo paper sheet, so you can print it at home on photo paper, at a copy shop, or at any commercial photo studio. For DS-11 in-person applications and DS-82 mail-in renewals, your printed photo needs to meet the 2 × 2 spec on photo-grade paper.

If you would rather order passport photos online than print at home, download the printable file and order a 4 × 6-inch print from a photo service such as CVS, Walgreens or a local print shop. Make sure the file is printed at its original size, without scaling or cropping. Make sure the printed photo is 2 × 2 inches before submitting your application.

Human Verification turnaround is built to fit a renewal window. After you upload your selfie and select the add-on at checkout, a senior PhotoGov compliance specialist reviews the file against the current State Department passport specs and approves it or invites a fresh upload. Particularly worth using when international travel is already booked, the previous passport photo was rejected, or the application is for a child whose appearance changes quickly between attempts.

If the rejection is caused by a technical issue on PhotoGov's side (wrong dimensions, head off-centre, etc.), we cover a free retake or a full refund. If the rejection is caused by the source photo (wrong expression, head tilt, glasses, hair across the face, shadow, dark, patterned background), you'll need to upload a fresh selfie and re-run the tool. Human Verification at checkout catches most source-photo issues before the application is filed — cheaper than a re-trip to a passport acceptance facility.

The fee covers the deliverable: the State Department–aligned JPEG plus the printable PDF for in-person and mail-in submissions, plus any add-ons selected at checkout. Unlike Canadian citizenship photos, US passport photos don't require a commercial studio signature on the back — there's no second payment to a studio. Current fees are on our Prices page.

PhotoGov gives two free ID photos per day, depending on your location. In the US, a digital passport photo costs $6.90, and a printable sheet is $2.90 more; see our Pricing page for current rates. Optional add-ons are listed on the same page.

Any modern mobile or desktop browser — Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox — on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, or iPad. No app download, account creation, or installation required. The selfie can be a fresh capture from the camera or an image already in your camera roll (taken within the past 6 months, accurately reflecting your appearance).

Yes. We take your privacy and data protection very seriously. Your image is processed in a private session, used only to generate the US passport photo, and deleted from our servers when the session ends. We don't share data with third parties or external AI services. Details in our Privacy Policy; for other questions, Customer Support.

Yes. The U.S. Department of State publishes its own Photo Tool on Travel.State.Gov — a free cropping utility that resizes images to the 2 × 2 passport format. PhotoGov uses the same published specifications, with a guided interface and an optional Human Verification step.

Use our free 2x2 photo converter to convert your recent portrait into the official 2 × 2 inch (51 × 51 mm) US passport format. Upload your selfie to PhotoGov, and the 2x2 photo converter automatically resizes, crops, and frames the image. You get two free ID photos per day, depending on your location; in the US, a digital photo costs $6.90. No registration or installation required.

To create an official US passport-size photo, use a reliable US passport photo tool such as PhotoGov. Upload your selfie, and the system will automatically detect your face, crop the frame, adjust head size and margins, and instantly generate a 2 × 2 inch photo, delivered as a JPEG of 600 × 600 pixels, that is suitable for both printing and digital submission. No manual editing required.

PhotoGov includes a free passport photo checker that runs an automated check on size, head proportions, background, and lighting against the U.S. Department of State guidelines and flags issues for retake. To check your passport photo online for free, just upload your selfie. For an extra layer, add Human Verification — a senior compliance specialist manually reviews the image against the latest official rules.

Upload the JPEG you downloaded from PhotoGov as is, without re-saving or editing it. The application accepts JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, and HEIF files from 54 KB to 10 MB, and you can crop and reposition the photo inside the application. For the photo you give PhotoGov, use a picture taken within the past 6 months: face the camera directly, with a neutral expression, eyes open, and mouth closed. PhotoGov also creates a printable PDF for first-time passport applications or in-person submissions. Whether you need a passport photo tool for renewal, replacement, or a first-time application, the file produced by PhotoGov is aligned with the U.S. Department of State standards.

Yes. PhotoGov supports the full range of US passport photo formats — first-time adult passport, renewal, replacement, and child or infant passport applications. All of these documents share the same 2 × 2 inch (51 × 51 mm) format and white background, so a single upload to our passport photo tool produces a file suitable for first-time application and renewal of your child’s passport.

Yes. Open photogov.net in the phone browser, upload a picture and download the finished file. No app is required; the PhotoGov app for iOS and Android does the same job if you prefer it.

No. PhotoGov applies the selected format automatically: the tool sets the frame and the head position for you. Before you submit the photo, check the photo instructions for the application you are completing.