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How to Take Baby Passport Photos at Home

Getting your first passport is exciting and although your baby may not be able to express their excitement yet, getting a baby’s first passport is still exciting. Whether you are planning your families first international trip, visiting family or living abroad, babies, no matter how young, need their own passport.

Getting baby’s passport photo taken may seem stressful but it doesn’t have to be. I preferred the flexibility of taking our baby’s passport photos at home but you can also go to a location to have them taken. This guide details exactly how to take baby passport photos yourself step by step. 

Otherwise, if you prefer to have baby’s passport photos taken by someone else then no worries, I’ve listed several locations you can visit below.

Read More: How to Get Your Baby Their First U.S. Passport

This post may contain some affiliate links. This means I make a small profit from your purchase but at no increased cost to you. I only recommend products that I love and would purchase myself! Full disclaimer here.

US Passport Photo Requirements and Guidelines

There are certains requirements that every passport photo must meet to be accepted. I will outline them here but I also recommend reviewing the government issued passport requirements and tips as well.

The requirements are specific and it feels like a lot of them but most are self explanatory and easy to achieve!

  • The photo submitted must be a color photo taken within the last six months. They want a current, up to date photo that accurately represents your appearance. They do not accept black and white photos.
  • The photo must have a plain white or off white background. 
  • It must be a clear photo. No blurriness or movement.
  • There should be no shadows on the person’s face, body or in the background. This means using proper lighting and exposure (which we will cover below). There should also be no filters used.
  • The person should be alone in the photo with nothing blocking the face and the photo must be taken by someone else. No selfies, sorry. This also means no hats, no glasses, etc.
  • The person should be looking directly at the camera and have a neutral expression on their face or a natural smile. The eyes must be completely open.
  • Finally, the printed photo must be 2×2 inches and the head should take up between 1 – 1 â…ś inches. The photo must also be printed on matte or glossy photo paper.

Baby Specific Passport Photo Guidelines

Since some of these requirements are difficult for newborns and infants there is some leeway. 

  • Infants may have their eyes closed or partially closed.
  • Pacifiers are not allowed as well as no hands by the face because it obscures the face.
six examples of what will not work for passport photos. This step by step guide gives you all the information you need to take baby passport photos at home with no fuss.
What not to do for passport photos!

How to Dress Baby for Passport Photos

When taking baby’s passport photos they should be dressed in normal everyday wear. Colors that stand out from a white background but aren’t too bright look the best once printed.

Remember that nothing should obstruct the baby’s face. This means no binkies, no hats, no bows and no glasses. Not even prescription eyewear.

The last thing is that they should not be wearing any uniforms. Even though they are children that means nothing that looks like a uniform so staying away from camouflage is a good idea.

Tips for Traveling with a Baby:

How to Get a White Background for Baby Passport Photos

Getting a white background is actually very simple. All you need is a white sheet. If your baby can sit up then you simply have to drape the sheet over something, sit your kiddo in front of it and start snapping away. Kids are wiggly though and even though my little guy could sit on his own I thought it would still be easier to lay him down. 

So if your kid can’t sit up yet or you want to take the photo laying down then lay the sheet down on a flat surface. We used our mattress but you can also set your baby in their carseat and put the sheet behind their head. This could be helpful to direct where your baby is looking and support their head if they are especially young.

In reality all you really need is plain white or off white fabric. So in a pinch you could use a white pillowcase, or even a white t-shirt. Just pull any fabric you use as taught as you can to avoid wrinkles.

Tips for Taking Babies Passport Photo at Home

  • Use rolled up wash cloths on either side of the baby’s head if they can’t support their own head yet. Just make sure you put them under the sheet and that the baby’s ears are still visible in the picture.
  • Use natural light to avoid harsh shadows on the baby’s face. Late morning or early afternoon are good times for lighting.
  • One of the best parts of taking passport photos yourself is the flexibility it gives you. Choose a time of day when your baby is in a good mood to take pictures. Try for after a nap and a feeding so they are their happiest. 
  • And if they are grumpy and it’s just not working, then it is ok to wrap it up and try again the next day! That is a huge perk to taking passport pictures at home.
  • Avoid flash if you can since it tends to create harsh shadows.
  • If your kiddo is moving around a lot try using a fast shutter speed to cut down on blur.
  • Don’t be afraid to use photo editing if you need to adjust lighting after the fact.

Printing Baby’s Passport Photos

The printed photos have to be 2×2 inches, in color and printed on matte or gloss photo paper. 

You can use websites that will allow you to upload your photo and will print your photos for you. One downside is that having the pictures mailed to you can take a while which isn’t always an option. This site, makepassportphoto.com offers this service as well as a free downloadable option. It is fairly easy to use and even has a handy feature that shows you how big the head should be in the picture.

I used Canva, a free online tool that allows you to create digital products. They have an app or a website you can use.

Time needed: 20 minutes

  1. Open Canva

    Simply sign up for a free canva account then click on create a design.canvas crate a design button is found in the top right hand corner.

  2. Set the Design to a Custom Size

    Click on custom size and set the parameters to 6 inches wide and 4 inches tall. This is a standard size for printing photos and will nicely divide into 6 2×2 inch photos that can be attached to your passport application.create a canvas design that is 6 inches by 4 inches. This will later be divided into 2x2 inch squares that match passport photo requirements.

  3. Make 2×2 inch Squares

    Next, in elements search for frames. Select the square frame and make a 2×2 inch square. Then duplicate the square 5 times so that you have six equal sized squares like the example below.The final canvas template for passport photos will look like this. a rectangle divided into six equal squares.

  4. Upload Your Photo

    Now upload your passport photo that you would like to print and insert it into the frames. You can even upload multiple peoples photos on the same sheet of photos. I do recommend printing 2-3 of each person though so that you have backups if needed.

  5. Download and Print

    Finally, download the image as a png or jpeg that you can upload to the print shop website or print from home.

International Baby Friendly Destinations:

Nearly Free Way to Take Baby’s Passport Photos

You can now take your jpg file and upload it to your local print shops website. I printed ours out from Walgreens. Their website was easy to use and very straightforward. I put in my order at night and it was available for next day pick up. 

I paid in-store and was in and out in less than five minutes! Plus I printed two sheets of pictures (12 photos total) for only $0.76 cents. You only need one sheet of photos, I was way over prepared with backups, so your total will only be $0.36 cents.

Other places to print photos from are CVS, Costco, Staples, Office Depot etc.

Where to Get Baby Passport Photos Taken

If you decide you don’t want to take baby’s passport photos yourself here is a list of places you can go to get passport photos taken:

On average from what I have seen it costs about $15 dollars to have passport photos taken and printed but it does vary slightly based on location. Not every location offers these services so make sure you check at your location before heading in.

How to Take Baby Passport Photos

There you go! All my best tips and tricks for taking your baby’s passport photos from home. Following these tips you should get a photo that will look great and get accepted with your passport application.

Let me know if you have any questions and if you have any tips for everyone else make sure you drop them below in the comments!!

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