A simple guide to ordering a child’s passport photo
For the purposes of this article, we have focused on a child’s UK passport. Please be sure to go online and check the passport photo guidelines relevant to your country. There are also some GREAT TIPS FOR ADULTS who need passport photos delivered to their door.
1Find a well lit room with a plain wall (in this case we chose a light grey wall in the living room) and sit your child comfortably in front of the wall. Hold her there if necessary but keep your hands far down the torso so they will not be seen in the photograph. Ensure your child is not sitting too close to the wall, avoiding creating shadows behind her.
2 You will probably need 2 or 3 people involved to get the best photo:
- Person One with the camera (these days a good quality phone camera can work well).
- Person Two looking after your child and holding her in place.
- Person Three standing behind Person One, waving toys in the air and making silly faces, to get your child looking at the camera.
3 Take a variety of photos, close up and further away, so you have a selection to choose from. Try to ensure there aren’t any hard shadows falling on your child’s face or on the wall behind them. In the UK the gov.uk website says “Children under 6 don’t have to be looking directly at the camera or have a neutral expression” so feel free to use a fun photo :)
4 Visit www.oddprints.com and upload your chosen picture. It might even be a good idea to choose two or three photos so you have options. Remember that photos can sometimes look different on your device screen compared to an actual print as the brightness on screens vary.
5 Enter the sizes you require or simply use the passport presets available in the dropdown menu. The passport presets automatically turn the tiling option on which duplicates your picture, fitting multiple prints onto one page (but costing no more!)
6 Choose your composition. If required, shrink the cropping tool (the blue rectangle) to zoom into the area of photo you want printed. Move it around until you’re happy with the composition. The face should be about 2/3 of the cropping height.
7 Check the print layout. Ensure you check the “How it looks when it’s been printed out” section further down the editing page before adding to basket.
This section shows you how many passport photos will be printed onto one standard 4x6" page, when the tiling option is turned ‘On’. The background colour defaults to a light grey but you can change this to white if you prefer.
8 In the checkout, review your order by checking the measurements and quantity of your prints. A good tip is to click on the thumbnail image in the checkout to enlarge the picture and check what your print will look like. When happy with everything, and after selecting either standard (default) or express delivery, click ‘Add Address’ to complete your order details and make payment.
9 Trim your prints. Your prints will arrive in the post on 6” x 4” standard sized photographic paper, you will need to trim them down. They usually do not need a border (check the passport requirements) so cut along the edge of the image.
10 Apply for your passport. Now you have your passport pictures at the correct size, you can apply for your passport following instructions from the relevant passport office (ensure you check online). The passport we applied for using our ‘odd prints’ was a child’s UK passport and here it is!
For the purposes of this article, we have focused on a child’s UK passport. Please be sure to go online and check the passport photo guidelines relevant to your country. Some useful links are below:
United Kingdom:
United States:
Australia:
Canada:
