Guide
Where to get a passport photo taken
Six places will sell or make you an ID photo. Which one is right depends less on convenience than on which country's document you're applying for.
The short answer
For most documents, the cheapest compliant photo is one you take yourself and measure against the official rules before printing. Booths, pharmacies and studios exist for the cases where that isn't allowed. A handful of countries (Germany since May 2025, France for its own documents, Canada's paper routes) genuinely do require a professional or take the photo themselves, so check your document's rule before paying anyone.
01Your own phone, checked before you printcents for the print
For most documents this is the cheapest compliant route, not a compromise. The camera on any recent phone out-resolves what the standards require; what fails home photos is framing, lighting and background, and all three are measurable. Stand a metre from a plain wall, face a window, have someone shoot from two metres at eye level, then measure the result against your document's rules before printing.
02Photo booth≈ €6–12
Fast and usually compliant for the local country's documents, since booths are configured for the national standard. The catch is applying to a different country: a booth set up for one background colour or head-height band can quietly fail another country's spec. Some booths in France are ANTS-approved and issue the e-photo code French documents need.
03Pharmacy or supermarket photo counter≈ €8–20
Staff take the photo and print it while you wait. Quality varies with training; big-chain counters in the US are a common source of rejected photos, usually for shadows or head size. If you go this route for a foreign document, bring the printed spec, because the clerk will default to the local standard.
04Dedicated photo studio≈ €10–25
The right answer where the law requires a professional: Canada's paper routes need the studio's stamp and address on the back, and several countries' consulates accept only studio photos. A studio is also sensible for tricky cases, like infants, wheelchair users who can't get to a booth, or religious headwear that needs careful framing.
05Post officevaries
Some postal networks, the UK Post Office among them, offer ID photo services alongside their check-and-send counters, with the advantage that the person taking the photo also sees rejected applications all day. Availability is branch by branch.
06The place you cannot choose: government capture≈ €6 at the terminal
Germany has moved photo capture into the process itself: since May 2025, passport and ID-card photos are taken at a terminal in the Bürgeramt or transmitted directly by a certified photographer. A citizen cannot supply a photo at all. Book the appointment and the photo happens there.
"Near me" is the wrong question for some documents
A photo counter near you is set up for your country's standard. The moment you apply to a different country (a US visa from Europe, say, or a Chinese passport renewal) the local default stops being safe: background colours, head-height bands and pixel dimensions all change at the border. In that situation the reliable order is to look up the destination's spec first, then decide who takes the photo.
Every document page on this site states its country's rule on self-made photos, links the official source, and shows the date we last verified it. The full list is here.
Taking it yourself? Check it first
The free check measures head size, eye line, background colour and evenness, lighting and resolution against your exact document, in the browser, before you pay for anything or print a thing.
Questions
Where can I get a passport photo near me?
Pharmacies and supermarkets with a photo counter, photo booths in stations and shopping centres, dedicated photo studios, and some post offices all take ID photos. For most countries you also have a cheaper option that involves no travel: take the photo at home against a plain wall and have it checked against your document's rules before printing.
Can I take my own passport photo at home?
In most countries, yes: the authority publishes rules, not a list of approved shops. The exceptions are Germany, which no longer accepts citizen-supplied photos at all for passports and ID cards, France, which requires a photographer or approved booth for its own documents, and Canada's paper routes, which require a photographer's stamp. Check your document's page for its rule.
How much does a passport photo cost?
A studio or pharmacy session typically runs €10–20 and a booth somewhat less. Doing it yourself reverses the economics: printing a prepared sheet at a photo counter costs cents, and the risk of rejection is covered by measuring the photo against the official rules before you print.
Where do I get a 2×2 inch photo for a US application?
Any of the same places, since 2×2 inches is the US format. If you take it yourself, the digital file must be square and at least 600×600 pixels, and US rules ban glasses and any retouching. The US passport and DV lottery pages here check those exact rules free.
Where can I get photos for a Chinese passport application?
The Chinese passport spec is written for the online channel: 354–480 pixels wide by 472–640 high, with the file between 20 and 80 KB, and both bounds are enforced. A studio can do it, but a phone photo against a white wall, resized and compressed into those windows, also works; the China passport page checks the geometry.
How we handle compliance
- We check your photo against the official rules. We never retouch your face, and we only normalize the background where the destination country permits it.
- Every requirement is cited from official government sources, with the verification date shown on the page.
- What you get is a report of measurements, not a guarantee. Final acceptance always rests with the issuing authority.