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Germany passport & ID — 35×45 mm photo maker

35×45 mm at 600 dpi, head 71–80% of the frame, light grey, uniform 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, uniform

Also required

  • Head height 32–36 mm
  • Biometric standard (frontal, neutral)

Source: Bundesdruckerei / BMI photo template. Requirements change — check the source before you submit.

The frame is the ordinary German biometric one. Since 1 May 2025, though, the photograph for a Reisepass, Personalausweis or electronic residence permit must reach the authority digitally — from an office terminal, or a certified provider who uploads it encrypted and gives you a code. Read what follows as preparation, not as a substitute.

How much of the frame the head has to fill

Seventy-one per cent of 45 mm is 31.95 mm; eighty per cent is 36 mm. Rounded, that is the printed 32–36 mm, a band four millimetres wide. What changed in Germany is the carrier rather than the geometry: an encrypted file the counter retrieves with a code, instead of a strip of prints slid across a desk. The measurement survived. The paper did not.

What gets this one sent back

  • Light grey must mean light grey everywhere. An arm's length off the wall keeps your shadow out of the corner behind your shoulder.
  • Paper prints, USB sticks and e-mailed images are all refused for these documents; the transfer route itself is part of the requirement.
  • The biometric standard wants you square to the lens with a level chin — a slight turn that suits a portrait reads as non-frontal.

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

  1. 01Add a recent photoFacing the camera, plain wall behind. HEIC from an iPhone works directly.
  2. 02Frame it to 35×45 mmDrag and zoom until your head fills 71–80% of the frame height, matching the dashed guide.
  3. 03Check the warningsThe border area is measured against "light grey, uniform" and flagged if it is uneven.
  4. 04Download or printSave the 827×1063 JPG, or take a print sheet with several copies laid out at true size.

Questions people actually ask

Can I still take my own photo to the Bürgeramt?
Not for a passport, identity card or electronic residence permit. Since 1 May 2025 those images must be captured digitally and delivered by an approved route: a certified provider who encrypts the picture and issues a code, or a self-service terminal in the office. Essen and Wiesbaden each publish a six-euro terminal charge, and both suggest a studio for babies.
Does this cover residence permits, or only passports?
City announcements list the electronic residence permit beside the Reisepass and the Personalausweis, so an eAT renewal goes through the same capture. Plan around it: the image must exist in the system before you sit down, whether that means booking a studio first or arriving early for a terminal. Nobody at the counter can rescue a printed strip.
How do I tell whether I am really square to the camera?
Set the phone on something at eye height rather than holding it, because a hand-held camera drifts and the arm holding it pulls one shoulder forward. Then use the frame itself as the level: your two ears should show the same amount, the line between your pupils should run parallel to the top edge, and the tip of your nose should sit on the vertical centre. A tilt small enough to look natural in a portrait — five degrees, the sort of angle nobody notices in a photograph of a friend — is precisely the sort a biometric check reads as non-frontal.
What size does a Germany 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, uniform. 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 Germany 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.

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