Schengen Visa Photo: requirements and cropper
A schengen visa photo is 35 × 45 mm. The head must fill 70–80% of the image height. The background must be plain, light-coloured, uniform, without pattern or shadow. The photo must have been taken within the last 6 months.
Crop a photo to the Schengen Area spec
Drag the two markers. Put the blue one on the very top of the head — including hair — and the red one on the bottom of the chin. Every measurement below is calculated from that, because Schengen Area measures head height as 70–80% crown to chin, not the face.
Your photo
Result
The official requirements
| Printed photo size | 35 × 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height | 70–80% of image height |
| Background | Plain, light-coloured, uniform, without pattern or shadow |
| How recent | Taken within the last 6 months |
| Glasses | Eyes must be clearly visible. No flash reflection off the lenses, no tinted lenses, and frames must not cover the eyes. |
| Head coverings | Not permitted except for religious reasons, and then only if facial features from chin to forehead and both edges of the face remain clearly visible. |
| Expression & pose | Neutral expression, mouth closed, looking directly at the camera, eyes open and clearly visible, no hair across the eyes. |
| Not published | digital dimensions, file size, file format, minimum resolution, copies required, children & infants — the official source does not state these, so nothing is shown rather than a number we made up. |
Source: European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs — ICAO Photograph Guidelines — read 2026-07-26.
Where official sources disagree
More than one official source publishes a figure for this, and they do not match. Both are shown rather than one being picked silently:
- Print width: One source says 35–40 mm width, no height stated. Another says Fixed 35 × 45 mm, biometric.
When this happens, the office that will receive your application is the authority worth asking. Neither of us can resolve a contradiction in their own documentation.
Worth knowing
There is no single Schengen-wide numeric spec published in law. The EU Visa Code (Regulation 810/2009, Article 13(4)) requires the photo to meet ICAO Doc 9303 and delegates the technical detail. The European Commission's own ICAO photograph guidelines state 35–40 mm width and 70–80% face coverage without giving a height. National consular checklists uniformly operationalise this as a fixed 35 × 45 mm print. Because each Schengen state's consulate implements the rule, confirm with the specific consulate or visa application centre before applying.
How to make one
- Take or choose a photo shot straight on, from about arm's length or further, in even light with no shadow falling on the face or the wall behind it. Phone selfies taken close up distort the face and are a common rejection reason.
- Stand far enough from the wall that you cast no shadow on it. The background needs to be plain, light-coloured, uniform, without pattern or shadow — the tool fills only the area outside your photo's edges, it does not replace the wall behind you.
- Drop the photo into the tool above. Nothing is uploaded; the file is read directly by your browser.
- Drag the blue marker to the very top of the head, including hair, and the red marker to the bottom of the chin. This is the measurement every official spec is written against.
- Check the head-height readout against the official 70–80% figure.
- Download the photo, or generate a print sheet if you need physical copies.
Why Schengen Area photos get rejected
Drawn from the official guidance rather than guesswork. Most rejections are not about dimensions at all:
- Photo more than six months old
- Background with shadow or pattern, or not light
- Head covering worn for a non-religious reason
- Glare on glasses or tinted lenses
- Face outside the 70–80% proportion
- Smiling, open mouth, or a tilted head
Schengen Area photo questions
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The cropping, resizing and compressing all happen inside this page, using your browser's own image APIs. There is no server to upload to — the site is static files. Open your browser's network tab, use the tool, and you can watch nothing leave.
It also keeps working with your Wi-Fi switched off once the page has loaded.
What size is a schengen visa photo?
35 × 45 mm, according to European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs — ICAO Photograph Guidelines.
Can this tool change my background?
No, and that is deliberate. Background replacement means guessing where your hair ends, and the guess is visible — a halo or a chewed-up fringe is exactly the kind of artefact that gets a photo rejected as digitally altered. Schengen Area requires plain, light-coloured, uniform, without pattern or shadow, so photograph yourself against a matching wall.
The fill colour setting only paints the area outside your photo's edges when the required crop is larger than the image you supplied.
How recent does the photo have to be?
Taken within the last 6 months. Reusing the photo from your previous passport is a standard rejection reason.
Can I wear glasses?
Eyes must be clearly visible. No flash reflection off the lenses, no tinted lenses, and frames must not cover the eyes.
Are head coverings allowed?
Not permitted except for religious reasons, and then only if facial features from chin to forehead and both edges of the face remain clearly visible.
Why do different official pages give different numbers?
They do, and we show both rather than picking one silently. For Print width: one official source says 35–40 mm width, no height stated, while another says Fixed 35 × 45 mm, biometric. When sources disagree, ask the office that will receive your application.
Will a photo from this tool definitely be accepted?
Nobody can promise that, and any site that does is selling you certainty it does not have. A photo is judged on framing, background, lighting, expression, sharpness and how recent it is. This tool handles the geometry and the file size precisely; the rest is down to how the photo was taken. The requirements here were read from European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs — ICAO Photograph Guidelines on 2026-07-26 — check the source before you submit, because rules change.
Other specs
- French Passport & CNI Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · plain light-coloured — light blue or light grey. white is explicitly not allowed.
- German Passport & ID Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · solid
- Indian Passport Photo 35 × 45 mm · plain white
- Irish Passport Photo 35 × 45 mm · completely plain light grey · max 9 MB
- Italian Passport Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 70–80% · white
- Japanese Passport Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · white is recommended; a plain light blue is also accepted
This is not official advice. img-fix is not affiliated with any government or immigration authority. The figures on this page were read from European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs — ICAO Photograph Guidelines on 2026-07-26, and requirements change without notice. Check the official source before you submit.