United Kingdom passport photo size: 35×45mm
The size United Kingdom requires for a passport photo, in every unit you might be asked for — plus a free tool that crops and sizes your photo to match, in your browser.
The specification
| Photo size | 35 × 45 mm |
|---|---|
| In centimetres | 3.5 × 4.5 cm |
| In inches | 1.38 × 1.77 in |
| Pixels at 300 DPI | 413 × 531 px |
| Pixels at 600 DPI | 827 × 1063 px |
| Head height (chin to crown) | 29 – 34 mm |
| Background | Plain light colour with clear contrast to the face |
| Digital upload | At least 600×750px, file between 50KB and 10MB |
Source: these figures are published by the issuing authority. Official page
What trips people up
- Head height 29–34mm is smaller than the 32–36mm most ICAO countries use.
- The digital route has its own rules — 600×750px minimum, 50KB to 10MB.
- No glasses unless medically necessary, and then untinted only.
Making the photo
Physical size is what the authority specifies, so work in millimetres and let the pixels follow. At 300 DPI, 35×45mm is exactly 413×531 pixels — that is the number most upload forms quote, and it is the same photo, not a different one.
A phone photo is not the right shape, so it has to be cropped to 35:45 before resizing — squashing it to fit distorts your face and gets the application rejected. The Passport & Visa Photo Maker centre-crops, sizes to the exact millimetres, and can lay out a 4×6in sheet of copies for a print shop. It runs entirely in your browser — your photo is never uploaded.