How IDPhotoly works: step by step

IDPhotoly turns an ordinary phone or camera photo into a passport, visa or ID photo that follows the official rules for your document. The whole process runs in your browser, so the original photo never leaves your device. Here is what happens at each step.

1. Choose your document

Start by picking the country and document, for example a passport, a visa or a national ID card. For every document we store the official photo size, head height, eye position, pixel size, file size and background colour, together with a link to the official source so you can check the rules yourself.

2. Take or upload a photo

You can take a new photo or upload one you already have. A few simple habits make a big difference:

Stand in front of a plain wall and use soft daylight, for example next to a window.
Keep about 1 metre between the camera and your face, with the camera at eye level.
Look straight at the camera with a neutral expression and your mouth closed.
Take off glasses to avoid reflections, and keep hair away from your eyes.

3. Automatic processing in your browser

Once the photo is loaded, the tool works through these steps on your own device:

Face detection finds your face and key points such as the eyes and chin.
Levelling straightens a tilted head.
Cropping sets the exact head height and eye position required by the document.
Background replacement produces the plain background colour the rules ask for.
File size optimisation keeps the final file within the size limits, where the document has them.

4. The compliance check

Before showing you the result, we run a compliance check. It looks at whether there is exactly one face, whether you are looking straight at the camera, whether your eyes are open and your mouth is closed, whether the lighting is even, whether the image is sharp and has enough resolution, and whether the head size matches the official range. If something fails, we tell you what to change so you can retake the photo.

5. Free preview, one-time payment, download

You see a free preview with measurement guides drawn on top, so you can verify the proportions yourself. If you are happy, you pay once (prices start at $6.99) and download a digital file, a 4x6 inch print sheet, or both. There is no subscription.

6. Printing at a kiosk

The 4x6 inch sheet contains several copies of your photo and can be printed at any photo kiosk or lab. When printing, choose 100% scale (no "fit to page" or "auto-crop") so the photo keeps its official size.

What we cannot check

Our checks are automatic and cannot cover everything. For example, we cannot reliably detect hair covering the eyes, clothing colours that are not allowed (such as uniforms or white clothes on a white background), or special local rules that apply to a particular office or application portal. We always recommend a quick look at the official page linked on each document before you apply. IDPhotoly is not affiliated with any government, and the final decision on acceptance always belongs to the issuing authority.

If an official authority rejects a photo made with our service, you are covered by our refund policy. Questions? Write to [email protected].

Last updated October 5, 2026.