Photoclubalpha

Perhaps you get asked to take a passport photo for a family friend or acquaintance? - Simple I thought

Well, actually it is not that simple to do very quickly if you don't do this for a living.

However, yesterday I found this excellent site and it is free if you print your own.

http://www.epassportphoto.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just take a head and shoulders shot and upload it, the site lets you resize/frame it exactly to meet the passport regulations and then lets you download it sized for a 6x4 print of multiple photos all ready to cut up. Dead easy and quick. Saves an awful lot of time.

That's a good tip David.

They are very fussy about photos these days and even seem to reject them for the wrong shade of cream background ...

Andy

Thanks Breaside,

I had my passport photos taken at a local photolab till now but this looks like a good service which provides customizing for the official requirements of a specific country...

But I have suspicious nature when it comes to sending personal photo files to any destination however trustworthy they warrant themselves to be. Identity theft comes to my mind...if some third-party ill-intentioned people can make it past the security channels, there's good chance that the photos will be used at dark ends.

Otherwise though, it's a simple and fast resolution.

Yildiz

I did have similar concerns initially, however you do not have to provide any personal name/address/email to get the photo file produced. So really the only thing you are sharing with them is the photo. (OK they will have an IP address, but that does not necessarily have any relationship to the photo sent to their site). I can't see what use they could make of a photo of someone else, without also having a name etc.
I think in reality it is as safe as using a photobooth.
My wife wasted £4 using a photobooth for a passport photo recently - the results were unusable for the passport (very poor quality). Next time I will use the online service.

Have they dropped the requirements for certain types of paper? I believe the last time I had Passport photos taken the requirement was for a heat resistant paper, do to the process they use to attach it to the passport.

Dusty

You can read the regulations for your country in full at:
http://travel.state.gov/pdf/Photo%20Gui ... -01-04.pdf

Summarized:
• High-resolution photography and printing are strongly recommended
• Both conventional and digital photography are acceptable, and conventional or digital
printing methods may be used
• Resulting print should exhibit a continuous tone quality regardless of the print method
used (dye sublimation, ink jet, laser, etc.)
• Digitally printed photos should be produced without discernible pixels or dot patterns

Of course this free service is also very useful for any type of ID photo (Bus Pass, disabled parking etc).