France passport — 35×45 mm photo maker

35×45 mm at 600 dpi, head 71–80% of the frame, light grey or light blue behind you. Guides and a print sheet, on your device.

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35×45 mm · 827×1063 px · 600 dpi

Filestay is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any government or visa authority, including the U.S. Department of State. We make the file match the published technical requirements — acceptance is always the issuing authority's decision.

The official requirement

Photo size: 35×45 mm
Pixels: 827 × 1063
Resolution: 600 dpi
Head height: 71–80% of image height
Background: Light grey or light blue

Also required

Head height 32–36 mm
Taken within the last 6 months

Source: Service-Public.fr. Requirements change — check the source before you submit.

France is where the shared numbers stop being the interesting part. The frame matches its neighbours, but the rule that catches people is the backdrop: official guidance asks for a plain light background, pale blue or pale grey, and states that white is not allowed. Anyone holding a white-wall picture that passed elsewhere has found the thing to fix.

How much of the frame the head has to fill

The French figure runs from the chin to the top of the skull: 3.2 to 3.6 cm of face inside a 4.5 cm height, the same 71–80 per cent band written in the units the guidance uses. France is also particular about who may make the image — an authorised professional, or a booth approved by the interior ministry. Use the crop here as rehearsal, before paying for prints.

What gets this one sent back

White is refused outright. Pale blue and pale grey are the named colours, and either must stay even from corner to corner.
Six months is the ceiling on age; a picture from two summers ago is turned down however perfect its measurements.
Heavy frames, tinted lenses and glare across the glass are each grounds for refusal — the eyes must be plainly visible.

Half a metre clear of the wall so your shadow falls behind you, camera at about 1.5 metres so the lens does not widen your nose, soft light from the front. Take several.

Getting the print right

35×45 mm is a physical instruction; 827×1063 pixels is what it becomes at 600 dpi. The head band follows the same conversion — 71–80% of 45 mm is 31.9–36.0 mm, or 755–850 pixels in the exported file.

No digital ceiling is published for this one, which means the print is the binding version and the file only has to survive being printed. Use the sheet rather than sending a single image to a shop — several copies at true size on one page costs the same and covers the spare everyone ends up needing.

Print at 100%, not "fit to page" — the default shrink is invisible to you and measurable to whoever checks it.

How it works

01Add a recent photoFacing the camera, plain wall behind. HEIC from an iPhone works directly.
02Frame it to 35×45 mmDrag and zoom until your head fills 71–80% of the frame height, matching the dashed guide.
03Check the warningsThe border area is measured against "light grey or light blue" and flagged if it is uneven.
04Download or printSave the 827×1063 JPG, or take a print sheet with several copies laid out at true size.

Questions people actually ask

Is a photo I took at home acceptable for a French passport?

For the passport or the carte nationale d'identité, no. The guidance requires an authorised professional or a booth running a system approved by the interior ministry, and warns that a photograph outside the characteristics means no document is issued. What this page is good for is the trip beforehand: how you frame, which top separates from a pale blue backdrop, what to ask for.

Why does France ban white when other countries insist on it?

The rules do not explain themselves; the photographic logic is contrast. A biometric image needs a clean outline of the head, and pale hair or a pale complexion against pure white loses that edge in print. Pale blue and pale grey keep a boundary for every colouring — which is also why a white shirt in front of a light backdrop disappears into it.

What size does a France photo have to be?

35×45 mm, which is 827×1063 pixels at 600 dpi. The head, measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the hair, must fill 71–80% of the photo height.

What background colour is required?

Light grey or light blue. The border area is measured and flagged if it is uneven. The background is never replaced digitally — a cut-out edge is visible and gets photos rejected.

Is my France photo uploaded anywhere?

No — the crop and the JPEG encode both run in this browser tab. A biometric image of your face is not a file to hand to a web service.

How do I print 35×45 mm at the right size?

Use the print sheet — several copies laid out at true 35×45 mm with faint cut lines — and set the printer to 100% rather than "fit to page". At 600 dpi the file is 827×1063 px, and a driver that shrinks by 3% turns 35 mm into something a ruler catches.