Choose the deliverable before cropping the photo
Open the photo instructions for your exact application and note the deliverable: the original camera file, a prepared single image, or paper copies. Keep the unedited original before choosing a preset. The same document can have separate online and paper workflows, so a country name or size label alone does not tell you which file to submit.
| What the receiving process asks for | What to do | Check before sending |
|---|---|---|
| Original digital photograph | Keep the camera original. Use the application portal’s own cropping step when that is the requested workflow. | Verify original pixels, format and file-size limits. A printable sheet is not an original camera file. |
| A single image you are permitted to prepare | After confirming editing is permitted, select dimensions, position the image and download the single JPEG. | Reopen the saved file and check its pixels and framing. Correct dimensions do not establish full photo compliance. |
| Paper copies you are permitted to print | Download the 1800 × 1200 pixel sheet and print at actual size on 6 × 4 inch paper. | Disable fit-to-page and automatic cropping, then measure both photo edges before cutting. Use a professional photographer when your application requires one. |
A worked export you can reopen and inspect
The images are our synthetic calibration graphic, not a person’s ID photo. The source is 800 × 1000 pixels; the saved JPEG for the 35 × 45 mm print-size example is 413 × 531 pixels with 300 DPI metadata. Open the two files to compare edge markers and the crop boundary.
At 300 DPI, 35 ÷ 25.4 × 300 rounds to 413 pixels and 45 ÷ 25.4 × 300 rounds to 531. Rounding creates a small physical-size difference. This checks export geometry; it does not evaluate a face, lighting, identity or application acceptance.
DPI metadata does not lock a printer’s scaling. At 90%, a 35 × 45 mm rectangle becomes about 31.5 × 40.5 mm. Test your settings with the calibration page and measure the final photo too. These are calculated dimensions, not measurements from a physical print.
See the complete export record and its limits →
After downloading, check in this order
- Reopen the JPEG from your downloads list or file manager. Check whether it is a single photo or a multi-photo sheet and read its pixel dimensions. Its size on your screen is not a file-property check.
- Inspect sharpness and all four corners. Retake a blurry original or one with face shadows or an unsuitable background. The canvas color control does not remove an opaque background in the source.
- Check the application’s editing, upload or printing rules separately. If a portal rejects a file, record its exact error before changing settings. Repeated DPI changes or uploading a sheet as a single photo may not address that error.