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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Do it yourself passport photos.
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 04/07/2004 10:27:06 PM · #1
I came home from work today and my wife took my daughter to get her passport photo done. Sadly, the picture looked horrible. She looked upset to be there and her hair was messy. I asked why she didn't get another one and she told me that she had to pay another $8 for a second set if she wanted it.

So.... I log on to the State Department website and low and behold, guidelines!!!

I grab my camera and snap about 15 pictures. We picked the best one, sized it as per the guidelines, placed them on a 4x6 template, went to WalMart, and with 36¢, I had a set of passport photos. All I needed was to crop them to 2x2.



By the way, I would be glad to write a tutorial on how to do this, particularly the cropping, and sizing it to print on a 4x6 and still meet the State Department specs if anyone is interested. It may be obvious though. Additionally, people in other countries may be subject to different specifications.
 04/07/2004 10:34:44 PM · #2
This is very good information. Passport photos are such ripoffs.
 04/07/2004 10:39:58 PM · #3
Thanks for the post, that's good info. I think you did a good job, but in my quick reading I do note that you did one thing that was not "recommended":

"Natural Expression - the subject's expression which should be neutral (non-smiling) with both eyes open, and mouth closed. A smile with closed jaw is allowed but is not preferred."

Still, why should we all look like we have mug shots on our passports.
 04/07/2004 10:43:58 PM · #4
We would love the tutorial. I have to get large nos of prints for my work.
I too thought why not click Individual Passport Photograph of all my family members on 8x10 Format and it would turn out damn chap.

I just was not sure about size of Passport Photograph.

We need a tutorial
 04/07/2004 10:46:43 PM · #5
Oh but that is my little angel's natural expression. She is always smilling!!! lol. Seriously though, you are right. But as you said, I do not want a mug shot and although not preferred, it will still pass. What perplexes me is that most of the photo quality samples they have on the site are of people with open lipped smiles. Go figure.
 04/07/2004 11:03:12 PM · #6
Originally posted by Trinch:
Oh but that is my little angel's natural expression. She is always smilling!!! lol.


You're right, she does look really sweet :D
 04/07/2004 11:17:16 PM · #7
I just used the guideline and shot my own self-portrait for my passport. I printed it myself at home on my Epson 2200 printer. It worked fine -- my passport has been accepted every time.
 04/07/2004 11:22:06 PM · #8
Perfect timing, I'm just applying for my passport. Thanks!
 04/07/2004 11:32:57 PM · #9
Originally posted by hgpayne:
I just used the guideline and shot my own self-portrait for my passport. I printed it myself at home on my Epson 2200 printer. It worked fine -- my passport has been accepted every time.


All I have is an Epson C82 with standard 3-color ink and frankly, the resulting pictures look pretty bad. I was afraid it would not be good enough for the passport. I opted for having the print done at a lab onto photosensitive paper.

As a side note, how does one go about creating a tutorial? Is there a certain format?
 04/08/2004 01:40:44 AM · #10
Well I guess there is no format to create Tutorial except that you need to write all the steps, all equipment needed, include photographs.
It's like writing a-z of all steps you took, from setting up equipment to post prcessing .
 04/08/2004 08:41:44 AM · #11
The easiest way to write a tutorial is to compose it in plain ol' straight-forward HTML. Zip up the .html file and the associated images, and mail it to the admins. Once they receive it, they will take your HTML and "wrap" it in the standard site tutorial HTML (so you don't need to worry about duplicating the complete look of an existing tutorial, just the body of the tutorial).

(BTW, you may want to ask here in the forums for feedback on whether folks would find the tutorial useful before going through all the effort.)
 04/08/2004 08:45:50 AM · #12
what is the acceptability of these photos?

i have to get 15 passport photos done for some reason for my year long stay in china and this was going to cost me over 100 dollars. i might try this if it's a sure fire result

04/08/2004 08:48:40 AM · #13
Usually with passport photos the place taking them has to stamp them on the back (Canada anyway). I would doubt that pictures taken personally would be accepted though the guidelines below are not clear on that matter.

edited to add -
Canadian Passport guidelines:

//clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=canadaonline&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ppt.gc.ca%2Fpassports%2Fget_photo_specs_e.asp

Message edited by author 2004-04-08 09:00:13.
 04/08/2004 10:35:07 AM · #14
The UK passport office actually specifically state no digital prints are allowed. They accept them anyway - but it is in the regulations.

had to laugh at this section of the digital printing guidelines though

"Regardless of how much attention is paid to capturing, storing, and displaying an image, image quality will be poor if printers — including inks and ribbons — are not properly maintained"

Do any printers use ribbons any more ? That are used for photo printing ?

Message edited by author 2004-04-08 10:36:47.
 04/08/2004 10:50:26 AM · #15
Wow that's cool stuff...
I want a new passport, especially because the photo on mine was taken when I was in the 7th grade.
Evidently the computer I have been doing my digital photos on is a computer that is way too slow. A bit silly that they give you the guidelines for the computer that you should use.

cheers!
 04/08/2004 10:51:00 AM · #16
Originally posted by Gordon:
"Regardless of how much attention is paid to capturing, storing, and displaying an image, image quality will be poor if printers — including inks and ribbons — are not properly maintained"

Do any printers use ribbons any more ? That are used for photo printing ?

I think there's a type of Fuji proofer which uses some kind of thermal(?) transfer ribbon and aqueous processing; used in offset printing prepress, designed to match the results from the press. They look pretty good, but I prefer the photographic print technology.
 04/08/2004 10:51:17 AM · #17
Achiral, they accepted my photos this morning. I can't speak for China though. They may have different requirements. I have prepared the tutorial since a few people said the information was useful. It can be viewed on my website. If people do find this useful, I will gladly submit it to DPC. Any comments are welcomed and encouraged. Even the "Hey you idiot, there is a MUCH easier way to do that" type comments.
 04/08/2004 10:52:33 AM · #18
Maybe if you're still using the 1 megapixel cameras that they're talking about...

Originally posted by Gordon:

had to laugh at this section of the digital printing guidelines though

"Regardless of how much attention is paid to capturing, storing, and displaying an image, image quality will be poor if printers — including inks and ribbons — are not properly maintained"

Do any printers use ribbons any more ? That are used for photo printing ?
04/08/2004 10:58:24 AM · #19
Originally posted by Trinch:
Achiral, they accepted my photos this morning. I can't speak for China though. They may have different requirements. I have prepared the tutorial since a few people said the information was useful. It can be viewed on my website. If people do find this useful, I will gladly submit it to DPC. Any comments are welcomed and encouraged. Even the "Hey you idiot, there is a MUCH easier way to do that" type comments.

That covers it pretty well. I'd have a slightly different workflow in copying the trimmed image to the new output file, but functionally it's the same thing. Maybe spread things out a little too, it seems a bit crowded as my browser (AOL 9) displays it.
 04/08/2004 11:13:11 AM · #20
I added a
between each section. That should help a bit.
 04/08/2004 11:55:07 AM · #21
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by Gordon:
"Regardless of how much attention is paid to capturing, storing, and displaying an image, image quality will be poor if printers — including inks and ribbons — are not properly maintained"

Do any printers use ribbons any more ? That are used for photo printing ?

I think there's a type of Fuji proofer which uses some kind of thermal(?) transfer ribbon and aqueous processing; .


I suspect that there are not that many people using these at home though :)
 04/08/2004 02:35:25 PM · #22
Very useful information.

My wife and I spent a year abroad in Asia. One piece of advice that we took to liberal extremes -- and were glad we did -- was to bring LOTS of extra passport photos. My nephew was closing his quick-print studio, and we each burned a full packet of old polaroid passport film, and we each had 24 prints when we left. I think we came home with fewer than 5.

Many government offices require photos to be affixed to various forms of applications or permissions. We transited through China on several occasions, and each time we had to submit a passport photo with the visa application.
 04/08/2004 03:56:32 PM · #23
Just read this quickly, so maybe someone posted about this already.

Passport and Immigration photos in the USA are to be "non digitized" photographs. In other words, they are usually taken with a polaroid to make sure no one has edited the photo to look like someone else.

Let me know if the photos you did were accepted. I'd be surprised if they are.

04/08/2004 03:59:17 PM · #24
All our California driver's licenses have digitized photos.
 04/08/2004 04:09:37 PM · #25
Karen,

That may be dated information. According to the State Department, digitized images are accepted, even those printed on Inkjet printers. Link. From personal experience, mine were accepted today, however, only at the Post Office. I won't hear back from the State Department for a few more weeks. I don't forsee a problem, hopefully.

Originally posted by KarenB:
Just read this quickly, so maybe someone posted about this already.

Passport and Immigration photos in the USA are to be "non digitized" photographs. In other words, they are usually taken with a polaroid to make sure no one has edited the photo to look like someone else.

Let me know if the photos you did were accepted. I'd be surprised if they are.

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