How to Print Passport Photos on 4×6 Paper — A Quick Guide
When applying for a new passport with a paper form, you need to print passport photos first. And when it comes to printing, the universally accepted format is 4×6 (also referred to as postcard size).
But how exactly do you print your photos on 4×6 paper and why this format?
Let’s break the whole process down.
Contents
Preparing Your Passport Photo (4×6) Template
Before actually printing, make sure that it meets the quality requirements.
In addition to being coloured and in clear focus, your photo must be of good quality: the minimum DPI (dots per inch) resolution is 300. If measured in pixels, passport images must be 600×750 or more to look sharp on 4×6 paper.
If you don’t know what’s what when it comes to digital image parameters and other computer-related mumbo-jumbo, don’t worry. Instantly create a good-quality image on our website—it’ll take only three easy steps!
How to Create Printable Template in PhotoBooth Online
Here’s a three-step guide to making passport photos:
Step 1: Take a Digital Photo of Yourself
The best way to do this is to use a smartphone: open your integrated camera app, switch to the front camera and take your picture.
This doesn’t have to be a passport-style photo, it can even depict you at your full height as long as your facial features are clearly visible. Just make sure that you’re facing the camera and nothing is obscuring your appearance (if in doubt, check the official requirements).
Also, you needn’t bother with the background–it can contain absolutely anything as long as you’re in clear contrast with it.
If you’re using our service on a desktop or laptop, copy the photo you’ve just taken onto your computer’s hard drive.
Step 2: Upload Your Photo on Our Website
To start making passport photos, hit that green button below. When pushed, this upload photo button will open your camera roll (the menu where all your photos are included). Find and select the picture you’ve just taken—our website will convert it into a passport photo template suitable for printing on 4×6 paper.
Wait about ten seconds until the progress bar reaches 100%.
This is when PhotoBooth Online does everything for you: it crops your picture to a compliant portrait with the correct ratio and proportions and makes the background off-white.
Once the processing is completed, you’ll see your image trimmed to a handsome passport photo and placed in a printable 6×4 template:
Step 3: Download the Template (Or a Single Photo)
On the download page, you can save the converted image on your device.
It comes in two forms:
- If you’re applying with a paper application, you’ll need to use the printable 4 by 6 photo template that includes four copies of your new passport photo—save and print it on 4×6 paper using the instructions below.
- If you’re applying on the Internet (through the online submission form on the official government page), use the single digital picture.
Can I Fit 6 Passport Photos in a 4×6 Template?
Technically, you could do it (say, if you’re familiar with Paint, you can multiply your images by copy-pasting them).
But there’s no point in it.
His Majesty’s Passport Office requires two pictures, so a pair is enough. Moreover, our template leaves more space for you to cut out the pictures from the 4×6 paper sheet without damaging them with your scissors.
Now, to the part where you print your template.
How to Print Passport-Size Photos on 4×6 Paper
If you want to do the printing part by yourself, you’ll need a PC, a printer that can take four-by-six-inch paper and, accordingly, photo paper of this format (use glossy paper: it won’t give too much glare and reflections).
The following process will differ between Windows and Mac—but only slightly, so you shouldn’t have any trouble.
Follow these three steps to make passport photo printouts:
Step 1: Set Up Your Printing Equipment
Turn on your printer and make sure it’s connected to your PC. We don’t recommend printing from your phone—it’s easier to do from a computer.
If you made your 4×6 template on mobile, copy it to your PC’s hard drive.
Step 2: Open Your Passport Photo
Find your image in the Explorer, right-click on it and then choose Print–you’ll see the window with printout settings.
Step 3: Set Up the Parameters
Make sure to select the printer you’re connected to. In paper parameters, select the 4×6 paper size. Set the photo size to 4×6 as well. Finally, make sure that you’re going to print in colour.
Below is an example of how your settings may look like if you’re using Windows (on Mac, the principle is the same):
Once you’re all set, click Print.
Needless to say, the option described above has some drawbacks:
- It will take quite some time to figure out how to work your printer
- Not everyone has a photo printer at home in the first place
- Buying a pack of 4×6 paper to print just one sheet seems excessive
It’ll be far easier to make a print-ready template here and then bring it to your nearest place or a photographer who can print passport photos.
Yes, printing services aren’t free, but the price is very low, considering the amount of time, money and effort you’d have spent printing your pictures by yourself!
For example, in most stores, one 4×6 photo paper printout is under a pound, which makes the whole affair a no-brainer! Just copy the JPEG to your flash drive and take it there: the staff already knows how to work with photo templates. Also, some stores offer you the option to print passport photos online and collect them later.
As you see, the whole thing isn’t nearly as difficult as it seems to be—as long as you follow the easy steps listed above, you shouldn’t have any trouble whatsoever. Anyway, we hope this article makes printing passport photos on 4×6 paper a lot easier for you. Safe travels!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to print 4×6 passport photo?
Of course not—this size is equivalent to 10×15 cm, and that’s too big for your travel ID!
According to the official requirements, your British passport photo must be 45 mm high and 35 mm wide (roughly 1.38 by 1.77 inches).
That said, you won’t find a printer that would give you a 35×45 picture, since there is no paper format for such impractical dimensions. Instead, 35×45 pictures are printed on photo templates that measure four by six inches, like 4×6 paper postcards.
And if we do some simple math, we’ll see that one such template can include up to eight UK passport photos of the appropriate dimensions.
Why postcard proportions exactly?
Unlike 35×45, 4×6 (or 6×4, depending on your point of view) is one of the universal paper formats used by millions of photo studios and photographers around the world. If you want to print your passport images at a local place, you can always be sure that they have the photo paper in this exact format.
Can’t I just print one 35×45 photo?
Unfortunately, you can’t.
Again, no inkjet printer will give you a printout of such proportions. It usually has to be a larger piece of 4×6 paper with one or more photos in it (which you’re supposed to cut out). So, a four-by-six template is actually the best way to get your printouts.
To top it off, one photograph isn’t enough for application by post, as HMPO requires that you submit exactly two printed images.