France Passport Photo Maker — Built for the 35×45mm Standard
If you're applying for a French passport, renewing a carte nationale d'identité, or preparing a Schengen visa file, your photo has to land inside a narrow window: 35×45mm, head height between 32 and 36mm, and a plain light grey or light blue-grey background — never pure white. The Ministère de l'Intérieur and ANTS reject a meaningful share of submissions over framing and background errors alone, which means a stack of correct paperwork can still stall over one photo. This page covers the exact specification, where ClonyPDF's tool helps, and one rule about who's allowed to take the photo that most guides skip entirely.
Create Your France Passport Photo Maker Online
Most rejected French passport photos fail for one of three reasons: the head sits outside the 32–36mm window, the background isn't a uniform light grey or light blue-grey, or the print resolution is too low for the biometric scan at intake. None of these are visible to the naked eye on a phone screen — they only show up once someone measures the file. Passport Photo Maker handles the measuring for you: it detects your face, crops to the exact 35×45mm frame, centers your head inside the compliant height zone, and replaces your background with an approved light grey tone before exporting a file sized for both digital use and standard photo-booth printing.
Drop a photo here, or click to choose one
JPG or PNG · face forward, even lighting · we crop and color-correct the restOutput: a 35×45mm digital file and a print-ready sheet. This step produces a reference-quality compliant crop — see "Who's actually allowed to take the photo" below before you treat it as your final official copy.
France Passport & Carte d'Identité Photo Requirements
| Photo size | 35 × 45 mm (3.5 × 4.5 cm) |
|---|---|
| Width | 35 mm |
| Height | 45 mm |
| Background | Plain, uniform light grey or light blue-grey. Pure white is explicitly forbidden. |
| Head size | 32–36 mm, chin to top of skull excluding hair (roughly 70–80% of frame height) |
| Resolution | 300 DPI minimum (≈413 × 531 px); many approved booths capture at 600 DPI (≈827 × 1063 px) |
| File format | JPEG for digital ePhoto submission; matte or glossy print accepted at the counter |
| Glasses | Permitted only with thin frames that don't cover the eyes, untinted lenses, and no glare — most applicants remove them entirely |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, no smiling, eyes open and clearly visible, head straight and facing the camera |
| Age of photo | Less than 6 months old at the time of filing, and must resemble your current appearance |
The Ministère de l'Intérieur and ANTS
French passports and national identity cards fall under the Ministère de l'Intérieur, which sets the legal photo standard through dedicated arrêtés rather than a single combined regulation. The day-to-day production runs through the Agence Nationale des Titres Sécurisés (ANTS), the body that manages the biometric chip data, the secure printing process, and the online pre-demande portal at ants.gouv.fr.
In practice, you'll interact with three different layers of this system: the mairie or préfecture where you file in person and have your fingerprints and signature captured, the ANTS platform where you start your application and optionally attach a digital photo code, and the CERT (centre d'expertise et de ressources des titres) where the document is actually produced. A non-compliant photo is caught at the first layer — the intake counter — which is exactly where most delays happen, since a rejected photo means rebooking an appointment rather than a simple resubmission.
Who's Actually Allowed to Take the Photo
This is the rule that separates France from the US, UK, Canada, or India process: French regulation doesn't just specify the photo's dimensions and background — it specifies who is allowed to capture it. For a passport or carte nationale d'identité filed inside France, the photo must come from an authorized professional photographer or an approved photo booth running a system certified by the Ministère de l'Intérieur. A photo that's perfectly cropped to 35×45mm but taken on your own phone at home isn't eligible for the official filing, regardless of how compliant it looks.
Where this leaves a tool like Passport Photo Maker: it won't replace the legally required booth or photographer capture for a domestic French passport or CNI filing. What it's genuinely useful for is confirming your framing and background before you go — so you can catch a bad booth photo on the spot — and for producing a compliant reference copy for situations the booth rule doesn't cover.
That second category is bigger than it sounds. If you're outside France applying for a French Schengen visa through a consulate or a visa center such as VFS Global or TLScontact, the capture-method restriction generally doesn't apply: a quality photo from any professional studio, or a correctly cropped digital photo meeting the same 35×45mm and background specs, is typically accepted. Policy can still vary by location, so it's worth a quick check with the specific center handling your file.
Child Passport and Carte d'Identité Photo Rules
The 35×45mm format and the 32–36mm head-height window apply at any age, including infants. The child must appear alone in the frame — no parent's hand visible holding the head steady, no toys, no pacifier — with eyes open and looking toward the camera. Like adult photos, the capture still has to happen at an approved booth or with an approved photographer; a phone photo at home isn't an accepted substitute even for a newborn's first passport.
A fully neutral expression is hard to guarantee on a baby who won't sit still. If your child genuinely can't hold a closed-mouth expression, most approved photographers will still aim for open, visible eyes and a relaxed look rather than insisting on a frozen neutral face — ask the operator on-site, since how strictly this is enforced can vary between locations.
How to Create a France Passport Photo Maker Photo
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Start with a clean source photo
Face the camera directly under even, shadow-free light. Avoid mirrors, filters, or photos pulled from social media — the tool needs a sharp, unedited frame to detect your face accurately.
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Upload it to Passport Photo Maker
Drop your file into the upload box above. Detection runs automatically and locates your face, eyes, and chin line.
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Let the tool apply the French 35×45mm crop
Your head is centered and scaled into the 32–36mm height zone, and the background is normalized to a compliant light grey.
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Review against the spec strip
Check head position, expression, and background tone against the requirements table above before exporting — this is the step that catches most would-be rejections.
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Export and confirm your filing route
Download the digital file or print sheet, then confirm whether your specific filing (domestic passport/CNI versus a visa application abroad) requires an approved booth capture or accepts your compliant copy directly.
The ANTS ePhoto Code and the Online Pré-demande
If you want to complete the photo step of your pre-demande on ants.gouv.fr entirely online, you'll need an ePhoto code — a unique alphanumeric identifier issued by an approved photo booth or photographer at the moment your compliant photo is captured. You enter that code into the photo field of your online application, and ANTS pulls the verified image directly from its servers instead of you uploading a file yourself.
The code is tied to the same six-month freshness rule as the physical photo, so an old code becomes invalid even if you haven't used it yet. If you'd rather file the paper version at the mairie or préfecture counter, you can skip the code entirely and simply hand over the compliant print from the same approved source — both routes start from the identical photo standard, they just differ in how it reaches the administration.
Common Reasons French Passport Photos Get Rejected
- Wrong head height: the chin-to-crown measurement falls outside the 32–36mm window, usually because the photo was framed too tight or too loose.
- Pure white background: French rules explicitly forbid white — only light grey or light blue-grey passes.
- Glare or tint on glasses: reflections under booth lighting are common enough that most applicants just remove their glasses.
- Photo older than 6 months: even a technically perfect photo gets rejected once it falls outside the freshness window.
- Visible shadow on the face or background: uneven lighting from a single side reads as non-uniform to the verification system.
- Smiling or open mouth: France enforces a strict neutral expression — no smiling is allowed, even slightly.
- Capture method itself non-compliant: a home or phone photo submitted in place of an approved booth or photographer capture, for domestic passport/CNI filings.
France Passport Photo Questions
What size is a France passport photo?
35mm wide by 45mm tall — the same format used for the carte nationale d'identité and most Schengen visa applications. The head height must fall between 32mm and 36mm, chin to crown.
Can I use a digital photo I took at home for my French passport?
Not for the official domestic filing. Regulation requires the capture itself to come from an authorized photographer or an approved booth certified by the Ministère de l'Intérieur — a perfectly cropped home photo still won't be accepted at the counter or for an ePhoto code. It remains useful for checking your framing in advance, or for visa filings made from outside France where this capture restriction generally doesn't apply.
How do I create a France passport photo maker photo with ClonyPDF?
Upload a clear, front-facing photo. The tool detects your face, crops to 35×45mm, centers your head in the 32–36mm zone, and applies a compliant light grey background, then exports a digital file and a print-ready sheet.
How recent must my French passport photo be?
Under six months old at the time you file, and it has to still resemble your current appearance. The same six-month limit applies to an ANTS ePhoto code.
Which authority issues passports in France?
The Ministère de l'Intérieur sets the legal standard, and the Agence Nationale des Titres Sécurisés (ANTS) runs the biometric production system. You file in person at a mairie equipped for biometric titles, a préfecture, or a French consulate if you live abroad.
Do I need an ePhoto code for the ANTS pré-demande?
Only if you want to finish the photo step of your online pre-demande digitally. It's a code issued by an approved booth or photographer that ANTS uses to pull your verified photo automatically. Filing on paper at the counter skips the code — you just hand over the compliant print instead.
What photo is required for a French child's passport or carte d'identité?
The same 35×45mm size and 32–36mm head-height rule apply regardless of age. The child must be alone in frame with no hands, toys, or pacifiers visible, eyes open and facing the camera, and the capture still has to come from an approved booth or photographer.
Can I wear glasses in my French passport photo?
Only with thin, untinted frames that don't cover your eyes and produce zero glare. Because glare under booth lighting is hard to avoid, most approved photographers will simply ask you to take your glasses off.
Related Passport & Visa Photo Guides
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Get a 35×45mm photo with the correct head height and a compliant grey background in under a minute — then check the booth-capture rule above before your appointment.
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