Photoshop Passport Photo in 4 Steps

Renewing your travel document can be expensive—especially when it comes to passport photos. Thankfully, you can save some money and photoshop your passport photo!

While you can create a passport photo in Photoshop yourself, getting it accepted is another story. Even small mistakes in size, background, or positioning can lead to rejection.

Below, we’ll show you how to create a compliant 35×45 photo step by step – and a much faster way to get the same result automatically.

Creating a Passport-Size Photo in Photoshop

Using Photoshop can be quicker than visiting a photo booth – but only if you know exactly what you’re doing.

Step 1: Take a Picture and Open It in Photoshop

You can take the photo yourself or ask someone to help. In any case, your photo must be recent (taken within the last month) and not scanned.

When taking the picture, make sure:

• You look straight at the camera with a neutral expression.
• Your face is clearly visible and evenly lit.
• Your head and shoulders are fully in frame.
• Your hair is neat (stray hairs can complicate editing later).

Once you’ve taken your picture, copy it to your computer, then launch Photoshop and open the photo via File > Open.

Step 2: Crop the Image to the 35×45 Ratio

Select the Crop Tool and set the aspect ratio to 35:45. Then, adjust the frame so your head takes up most of the image.

Step 3: Set the Correct Size and Resolution

Go to Image > Image Size. Unpair the width and height fields (by clicking on the chain icon) – then set the width to 35 mm, height to 45 mm, and resolution to 300 pixels per inch.

Step 4: Remove the Background

Instead of manually selecting and erasing the background with the Magic Wand, you can use Photoshop’s automatic removal tool.

First, open Window > Layers and unlock your image layer by clicking the lock icon.

Then, go to Window > Properties. In the Quick Actions section, click Remove Background – this will automatically detect and remove the background in seconds.

Next, create a new background layer by going to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.

In the first window that appears, just click OK, then choose a light grey or white color (for example, #D3D3D3) and confirm.

Open the Layers panel again and drag the new colour layer below your photo.

Once the colour layer is moved below, your image will come forward – and it will have a clean, uniform background now.

Finally, click on any layer with the right mouse button and select Merge Visible to combine everything into a single image. Save this image in the JPEG format using File > Save As.

How to Create a Passport Photo Print Template in Photoshop

If you want to print your passport photo at a store or your home printer, you’ll need to place several copies onto a standard 6×4″ template.

Step 1: Create a New Document

Go to File > New and set the size to 6 x 4 inches with a resolution of 300 ppi.

Step 2: Add Your Passport Photo

Select File > Place Embedded… and insert your saved passport photo onto the canvas.

Duplicate the image until you have 4 copies on the page. Leave small gaps between them so they can be cut out easily.

Step 3: Export the Template

Open the Layers panel, then merge all layers into one by right-clicking on one of them and selecting Merge Visible.

Go to File > Save As and export the final layout as a JPG image file (keep the highest quality possible).

Your template is now ready to print in any photo shop.

How to Get a Passport-Size Photo Without Photoshop

While Photoshop works, it’s time-consuming and error-prone. As of 2026, many applications are rejected due to small technical issues that are hard to spot manually.

Instead, you can use PhotoBooth Online to automatically create a compliant passport photo in under a minute.