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Passport Photo AI

How to take a passport photo at home with your iPhone

Stand in front of a plain light wall facing soft daylight, keep your head level with a neutral expression, and let an app crop the photo to your country's exact size — that's the whole trick to a passport photo at home. Passport Photo AI does the crop, checks head size, position and light, and exports the file for free.

3 min read · Updated 2026-08-04

Download on the App Store

Can I take my own passport photo?

Many authorities accept a photo taken at home if it meets their rules. Some prefer that another person takes it, and a few add extra conditions, so check your authority's rules before you set anything up. If a selfie won't do, have someone else take the photo and bring it into the app with Import instead.

Set up: light, wall and distance

  • Wall: plain, light and free of pictures, doors or patterns. For US documents it must be white or off-white, because the app will not replace it.
  • Light: face a window with indirect daylight. Overhead ceiling lights cast shadows under the eyes and nose.
  • Distance: stand a step or two in front of the wall so your shadow falls behind you, not around your head.
  • Camera height: at eye level. A low camera tilts the face up and puts it too high or low in the frame.

How to take a passport photo at home without shadow

A shadow almost always comes from a single hard light source. Facing a window and angling a sheet of white paper to bounce light onto the darker side of the face fixes it, with no lamp or extra gear needed. Turn off the ceiling light, and step away from the wall.

Taking the photo with the app

  1. Tap Create New Photo, then your country and document.
  2. Tap Photo requirements and prepare: remove glasses if the document says No glasses of any kind, keep a neutral expression with your mouth closed, no hats.
  3. Fit your face in the oval. When the app shows Face detected — hold still, tap Take Photo.
  4. Wait while the app analyzes the face, processes the background where allowed, crops to the spec and checks size and position.
  5. Read the result on Photo Check.

Reading the AI feedback

Every photo starts at 100 points and loses some for each issue found. 80 or more shows OK, 60 to 79 REVIEW, below 60 FAIL. Each item under Issues found comes with its own fix, like Move closer to the camera or zoom in.

Worked example: US passport photo, head at 30% of the photo height
CheckResultPoints
Head height (minimum 25 ÷ 50.8 = 49.2%)30%, gap 0.192: critical−20
Position, tilt, turn, light, background, resolutionPass0
Score80

A score of 80 still shows OK, but the list underneath shows Head is too small in the frame. as a critical issue — that's the gap people miss. Fix critical items with Retake Photo even when the badge looks fine.

Export and use the photo

  1. Tap Use This Photo (it reads Use Anyway when the score is below 60).
  2. Pick JPEG, PNG or PDF under Export Format and tap Export Photo.
  3. Use the share sheet to save, send or print it. The photo is also saved to History.

Common mistakes

  • Smiling or raising the eyebrows. The app does not check expression.
  • Glasses reflecting the window. The app does not check glasses either.
  • Hair covering the eyebrows or eyes.
  • A phone held at arm's length and angled up, which tilts the head; the app flags a tilt over 8°.

Questions and answers

Which camera does the app use?
The built-in capture uses the front camera with a live face oval. For a photo taken by someone else with the main camera, use Import.
Can I try the app before taking my own photo?
Yes. See how it works with a sample photo on the Home screen runs the whole process on a sample portrait.
How long does processing take?
A few moments on the device. The processing screen shows each step and asks you not to close the app.

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