Short answer
A 35 x 45 mm passport photo is 413 x 531 pixels at 300 dpi and 827 x 1063 at 600 dpi. A 2 x 2 inch photo is 600 x 600 at 300 dpi and 1200 x 1200 at 600. The sum is millimetres divided by 25.4, times the dpi. But when a form asks for pixels it usually names its own: 600 x 600 for the US visa, Indian e-Visa and OCI, 630 x 810 for an Indian passport, 715 x 951 for an Irish one and 420 x 560 for a Chinese visa, and those do not always match the print size.
A passport photo is a size in millimetres on paper and, when you apply online, a size in pixels on a screen. Most authorities publish the first and some publish the second, and a form that asks for pixels does not always say which it means. This page puts every common size in pixels, at the two resolutions people ask about, and then lists the documents whose authority sets the pixel size directly.
getPNG crops and places a photo you took. It does not judge the biometrics, and nothing here promises that a photo will be accepted. The authority that issues the document makes that decision.
The table: millimetres to pixels
One row is one print size, because the pixels follow from the size and nothing else.
| Print size | Documents | At 300 dpi | At 600 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 x 45 mm | UK, Australian, Irish, French and Indian passports, Schengen visa | 413 x 531 | 827 x 1063 |
| 2 x 2 in (50.8 mm square) | US passport, US visa and DV lottery, Indian visa and e-Visa | 600 x 600 | 1200 x 1200 |
| 51 x 51 mm | OCI card | 602 x 602 | 1205 x 1205 |
| 50 x 70 mm | Canadian passport | 591 x 827 | 1181 x 1654 |
| 33 x 48 mm | Chinese visa | 390 x 567 | 780 x 1134 |
The sizes in millimetres are the ones in the passport photo requirements table, which cites each issuing authority and was read on 17 September 2026. The pixels are arithmetic on them, not published figures.
The sum is millimetres divided by 25.4, then multiplied by the dpi, rounded to a whole pixel. For 35 mm at 300 dpi that is 35 / 25.4 x 300 = 413.4, so 413. For 45 mm it is 531.5 before rounding, which comes out at 531.
Where the pixel size is set by the authority
Six documents in getPNG’s table come with a pixel size of their own. For these, ignore the table above: the number in the next one is the rule.
| Document | Pixels | File size | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US visa, DS-160, DV lottery | 600 x 600 | 240 KB or less | travel.state.gov |
| Indian visa and e-Visa | 600 x 600 | 300 KB or less | indianvisaonline.gov.in |
| OCI card | 600 x 600 | 200 KB or less | ociservices.gov.in |
| Indian passport | 630 x 810 | 250 KB or less | passportindia.gov.in |
| Irish passport | 715 x 951 | not published | ireland.ie |
| Chinese visa | 420 x 560 | 120 KB or less | us.china-embassy.gov.cn |
All of these were read on 17 September 2026, except the 250 KB limit for the Indian passport, which is not in the guidelines document and comes from the Indian mission notices about the December 2025 change, read on 21 October 2026. The DS-160 is looser than the table suggests: it takes any square from 600 to 1200 pixels, as DS-160 photo requirements explains, while a Diversity Visa entry wants exactly 600 x 600.
Several documents are not in this second table because getPNG’s data has no pixel size for them. The UK, Australian, French, Canadian and Schengen entries state a print size, and this page does not invent an upload size for them. If an online form for one of those asks for pixels, use the number printed on that form.
When the pixels do not match the print
It is tempting to assume a stated pixel size is just the print size at some dpi. It is not always, and the differences are worth seeing.
- India’s passport photo is the exception that fits. 630 x 810 has the same shape as 35 x 45 mm (7 to 9), at roughly 457 dpi. Here the pixel size is the print size, made larger.
- Ireland’s is its own shape. 715 x 951 is a width of 0.752 times the height, where 35 x 45 mm is 0.778. The two cannot both be exact at one dpi: 715 pixels across is about 519 dpi for 35 mm, and 951 down is about 537 dpi for 45 mm.
- China’s upload is a different shape from its print. 420 x 560 is 3 to 4, a ratio of 0.75, while a 33 x 48 mm photo is 0.6875. Use 33 x 48 mm for a paper application and the pixel size for the online one, and do not stretch one to make the other.
- The 2 x 2 inch square and the OCI card are almost the same and not quite. 51 mm is 602 pixels at 300 dpi, where 2 inches is 600. The OCI upload asks for 600 x 600 regardless.
The lesson is to take the pixel size from the authority’s page for the application you are making, not to work it back from millimetres and hope. The sizes agree often enough to look like a rule, and where they do not, the form is the rule.
What dpi is, and is not
Dpi stands for dots per inch, and it describes how big a printer makes each pixel. A file carries a dpi number in its header, but a screen ignores it. A form that asks for “413 x 531 pixels” is measuring the pixel count, so changing the dpi label from 72 to 300 changes nothing it checks. DPI explained goes through why, and why the number only matters once a printer is involved.
Two practical consequences follow:
- For an upload, match the pixels. If the form says 600 x 600, open the saved file’s properties and read the pixels. Whatever the dpi says is irrelevant.
- For a print, match the print size. A photo of 413 x 531 pixels printed at 300 dpi is 35 x 45 mm. The same file printed at 600 dpi is half that in each direction, 17.5 x 22.5 mm, which no authority will take. A lab that rescales to fill the paper will also change it, so ask for 100 percent and measure the print.
How many pixels the original needs
The size of the file you upload is fixed, but the size of the original decides whether the crop is sharp. What matters is how tall your head is in the original, not how big the whole photo is.
Take a 35 x 45 mm photo with a head of 32 to 36 mm. The head is then 71 to 80 percent of the photo’s height, so the crop is about 1.25 to 1.4 times the height of the head. If your head is 800 pixels tall in the original, the crop is roughly 1000 to 1125 pixels tall and is scaled down to 531, which is always safe. If your head is only 300 pixels tall, because the phone was far away, the crop is 375 to 420 pixels tall and has to be enlarged by about 1.3 to 1.4 times to reach 531. That is where the softness comes from. Stand closer, or use the camera’s main lens and not a digital zoom, so that the head is at least 400 pixels tall before you crop.
Making a photo at these sizes
Take the photo larger than you need, then crop down. Cropping loses pixels and enlarging cannot give them back, so a phone photo of 3000 x 4000 pixels has plenty of room for any size here.
- Take the photo as described in how to take a passport photo at home: someone else holding the phone at eye level, a plain wall, even light from the front.
- Open the passport photo maker, drop the original in and choose the document.
- Place the crown and chin inside the two bands. The crop is fixed to the right shape for the document, so it cannot come out a pixel off.
- Save the photo. Where an authority sets a pixel size, that is the size of the file. Otherwise the file is the print size at 600 dpi.
- Check the saved file against the tables above, and upload that file without opening it in another app.
Read the pixels of the file you will upload
- On Windows, right-click the saved file, choose Properties and open the Details tab. On a Mac, select it in Finder and press Command and I.
- Read the dimensions and the file size.
You should see: The exact pixel size from the second table for your document, a type the form accepts, and a size below its limit.
If you do not: if the pixels are off by one, crop again from the original at a fixed size instead of dragging the edges. If the file is over the limit, reduce the quality a step before reducing the pixels, as compressing an image to an exact size shows.
The free way
A passport or visa photo cropped to the right pixels, from your own photo
Choose the document, check the head against the bands and save a photo at the size the authority states. It runs in your browser, so the photograph is never uploaded, and the background is never changed.
What this page leaves out
It does not give a head height in pixels. That depends on the document, and the ranges are in the passport photo requirements table. For the square formats, the 2x2 photo guide works the head band through at 300 dpi, and the US visa figures are in US visa photo requirements.
It also does not say whether a photo of the right size will be taken. Size is the part of the rule that a tool can get right, and it is the easy part. The background, the light, the expression and the head tilt are what the authority looks at, and a correct pixel count says nothing about them.
A passport photo is a picture of your face tied to an identity document. getPNG makes the crop inside your browser and sends nothing anywhere, which you can check yourself with the steps in checking that a site is not uploading your photos.
Questions
What is the size of a passport photo in pixels?
It depends on the document and the dpi. A 35 x 45 mm photo, the commonest size outside the United States, is 413 x 531 pixels at 300 dpi and 827 x 1063 at 600 dpi. A 2 x 2 inch photo is 600 x 600 at 300 dpi. If an online form states a pixel size, use that one: it is the rule, and the print size is only where it came from.
Is 413 x 531 pixels the same as 35 x 45 mm?
Yes, at 300 dpi. 35 mm is 1.378 inches, which is 413.4 pixels, and 45 mm is 1.772 inches, which is 531.5 pixels before rounding. At a different dpi the same millimetres give a different pixel count, which is why a form that asks for 413 x 531 is really asking for a 300 dpi photo of that size.
Which resolution should I use, 300 dpi or 600 dpi?
For a printed photo, 300 dpi is the usual standard and 600 dpi gives a sharper print on a good printer. For an upload, neither: use the pixel size the form states. Dpi is a label stored in the file. The pixel count is what a form measures, so changing the label without changing the pixels does nothing.
Why is the Irish passport photo 715 x 951 pixels?
The Department of Foreign Affairs sets the digital size itself, and it is not the 35 x 45 mm photo at any single dpi: 715 pixels across is about 519 dpi for 35 mm, and 951 pixels down is about 537 dpi for 45 mm. The shape is slightly different too. Treat the stated pixel size as its own rule and crop to it (ireland.ie, checked September 2026).
Can I enlarge a small photo to reach the pixel size?
You can make the number match, but the file holds no more detail than before, and a face enlarged by half looks soft. Start from the original photo instead and crop it to the size. If the original is smaller than the size the form wants, take a new one with the camera at a higher setting.
Does getPNG make the photo at these sizes?
It crops and places a photo you took at the pixel size an authority states where there is one, and at the printed size at 600 dpi otherwise, and it runs in your browser. It does not judge the photograph, and nothing here tells you a photo will be accepted. The issuing authority decides.