Upload the source photo
Drop your source photo onto the tool above. Portrait, landscape and square source photos are all accepted. Any format works — JPEG, PNG, HEIC or HEIF.
Pick a country or aspect ratio
Select the target country from the preset list (US 2×2, UK 35×45 mm, Schengen, Canada, India, China, and 95+ others). Or pick a raw aspect ratio — 1:1 square, 3:4 portrait, or a custom input in advanced options.
Auto face-centred crop
The tool detects your face using on-device biometric landmarks, then positions the crop box so the head fills the country's required percentage of the frame and the eye line sits at the correct vertical position. All three cropping rules are satisfied automatically.
Fine-tune the crop box
If you want a tighter or wider frame, drag the crop-box handles. The tool locks the aspect ratio and prevents you from cropping outside the head-height range — if you drag beyond the limit, the crop box snaps back to the biometric compliance zone.
Download the cropped JPEG
Save the cropped photo as an sRGB JPEG at the target aspect ratio and dimensions. Ready to upload to travel.state.gov, gov.uk, canada.ca, or any other portal, or to print on a 4×6 sheet.
Crop a Passport Photo Online (Auto Face-Centred)
A passport crop has to satisfy three rules at once: correct aspect ratio, correct head-height percentage, and correct eye position. This free tool auto-detects the face, positions the crop box for the biometric compliance zone, and outputs the exact aspect ratio for 100+ countries — US 2×2, UK 35×45 mm, Schengen 35×45 mm, Canada 50×70 mm, India 2×2, China 33×48 mm and every other market with its own preset.
Crop your photo now
Upload a portrait, landscape or square source photo. The tool detects your face, positions the crop box for the biometric compliance zone, and lets you fine-tune before download. Pick a country preset or a raw aspect ratio.
Free passport photo cropper
Face-detected crop, exact aspect ratio, head-height rule enforced. Zero AI editing — only crops and scales, so the output stays 2026-compliant under every country's rules.
The three rules every passport crop must satisfy
Portal rejection notices rarely say “wrong crop.” They say “head too small,” “head too large,” “face not centred,” or “wrong aspect ratio.” All four are downstream symptoms of a bad crop.
Rule 1 — aspect ratio. The width-to-height proportion of the final image. US and India use 1:1 (square). UK and Schengen use approximately 7:9 (35×45 mm). China uses 11:16 portrait (33×48 mm). Canada uses 5:7 (50×70 mm). If the aspect ratio is off, the portal rejects with “image dimensions incorrect.”
Rule 2 — head-height ratio. The percentage of the frame height that the head occupies, measured chin to crown. US: 50–69%. UK: 65–75%. Schengen: 70–80%. Canada: 71–79%. If the head fills too much or too little of the frame, the portal rejects with “head too large” or “head too small.”
Rule 3 — eye position. The vertical distance from the bottom of the photo to the eye line. US: 56–69%. UK: 55–65%. Schengen: 60–70%. If the eye position is off, the portal rejects with “face not centred” or “wrong composition.” Our tool auto-satisfies all three by using face-landmark detection to place the crop box.
Passport photo aspect ratios by country
Every country's passport authority publishes an exact size in millimetres or inches. Translating that to an aspect ratio makes it easy to see which crops belong together.
| Country | Physical size | Aspect ratio | Head height |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA | 2×2 in (51×51 mm) | 1:1 square | 50–69% of frame |
| UK | 35×45 mm | approx. 7:9 portrait | 29–34 mm (65–75%) |
| Schengen (EU) | 35×45 mm | approx. 7:9 portrait | 32–36 mm (70–80%) |
| Canada | 50×70 mm | 5:7 portrait | 31–36 mm (71–79%) |
| India | 2×2 in / 35×45 mm | 1:1 (US) or 7:9 (Indian) | Approx. 70–80% |
| China | 33×48 mm | 11:16 portrait | Approx. 68–75% |
| Australia | 35×45 mm | approx. 7:9 portrait | 32–36 mm (70–80%) |
| Japan | 35×45 mm | approx. 7:9 portrait | Approx. 70–80% |
| Germany | 35×45 mm | approx. 7:9 portrait | 32–36 mm (70–80%) |
| Brazil | 5×7 cm | 5:7 portrait | Approx. 70–80% |
The tool has presets for all these countries plus 90 more. Selecting a preset locks the aspect ratio, sets the correct head-height percentage, and positions the crop box so both are satisfied. If you're cropping for a country not in the list, use the raw aspect-ratio input in the advanced options.
The 35×45 mm cluster
Roughly 60 countries use the 35×45 mm size — UK, Schengen area, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, and most of the Commonwealth. They share the same aspect ratio but have slightly different head-height rules. The tool selects the correct percentage automatically based on the country you pick.
The head-height rule — the single biggest source of rejection
More rejections come from wrong head-height than from any other cropping issue. It's invisible to the eye until you overlay a measurement grid.
What "head height" means. The vertical distance from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head — the crown, not the top of the hair. In a 600×600 pixel US photo, the head height must be between 300 pixels (50%) and 415 pixels (69%). Anything outside that range gets rejected on the automated pre-check.
Why applicants miss it. Phones default to zooming out for group shots and zooming in for close-up faces. A close-up phone selfie typically has the head filling 90–100% of the frame — way over the 69% US ceiling. A full-body shot has the head at 15–25% — way under the 50% floor. The correct passport head-height is between those two extremes and requires deliberate cropping.
| Country | Head-height % | Head pixels (600 px tall) |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 50–69% | 300–415 px |
| UK | 65–75% | 390–450 px |
| Schengen (EU) | 70–80% | 420–480 px |
| Canada | 71–79% | 426–474 px |
| India | 70–80% | 420–480 px |
| China | 68–75% | 408–450 px |
The tool handles it automatically
Pick a country preset and the tool measures your detected face, calculates the required head-height range in pixels, and scales the crop box to hit the middle of the range. You never have to calculate percentages yourself.
How to crop in under a minute
Five cropping mistakes that cause rejection
1. Cropping in a phone gallery editor
Phone gallery editors satisfy aspect ratio but ignore head-height. The result looks fine to the eye but fails the biometric pre-check. Use a tool that enforces the head-height rule.
2. Clipping the crown of the head
Cropping too tight cuts the top of the hair or head off. Every country's rule requires the entire head to be visible. The tool prevents this by locking the crop box at least 5% below the top of the detected head.
3. Clipping the ears or the shoulders
Countries that require ears visible (US, Canada, Schengen) fail crops that clip either ear. The tool detects ear landmarks and pushes the crop box out horizontally if either ear is at risk.
4. Using the wrong country's preset
Cropping to US 2×2 for a UK passport application fails immediately — the UK requires 35×45 mm portrait, not 1:1 square. Always pick the exact target country before cropping.
5. Cropping first, then filtering
Any filter or beauty-app touch-up applied after cropping counts as digital alteration under 2026 rules. Crop the raw source, then submit — never touch the photo after the crop.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on the country. The US, India and China use a 1:1 square (2×2 inches or 33×48 mm portrait for China). The UK, Schengen area, Australia and most of Europe use a 3:4-ish portrait ratio (35×45 mm). Canada uses 50×70 mm which is closer to 5:7. Our tool has presets for all 100+ countries.
The head-height rule varies by country. The US requires 50–69% of frame height (about 1 to 1⅜ inches / 25–35 mm). The UK requires 29–34 mm (about 65–75% of frame height). Schengen photos require 70–80% of frame height. Our tool auto-adjusts the crop box for the selected country's rule.
Any source photo works as long as the face is at least 150 pixels tall from chin to crown. The tool crops away the surrounding area and keeps only the face at the correct scale. If your source is smaller than that, the tool warns you before proceeding.
Yes. In the advanced options, enter any width-to-height ratio (like 5:7 for a custom card, or 1:1 for a square avatar). The face-detection still centres the crop, but the aspect ratio matches your custom input. This is useful for non-standard institutional ID photos.
Yes. The tool uses on-device face-landmark detection to find the eye line, then positions the crop box so the eyes sit at 56–69% of the frame height (the biometric compliance zone). This automated centring passes the face-position check on every major portal.
Yes. Cropping never adds pixels or applies filters — it only removes the pixels outside the crop box. As long as your source photo is at least 900×900 pixels, the cropped output at 600×600 or larger will have the same sharpness as the original.
Yes. The face detector works on infants (from about 3 months old). For babies, prop them up against a plain white sheet, take the photo, and the tool crops around the small face automatically. For step-by-step baby-photo advice, see our baby passport photo at home guide.
The tool auto-detects orientation from EXIF metadata (HEIC and modern JPEG files include this). If auto-detection fails, use the rotate control in the tool to flip 90 or 180 degrees before cropping. The output always has correct orientation.
Yes — after cropping, use our companion tools: compress to 240 KB for US DV Lottery / DS-160 visa, reduce to 20 KB for Indian exam portals, or resize to 600×600 for US federal uploads. All three run on the cropped output automatically if launched from this tool.
Yes. Unlimited crops, no watermark, no signup, no paywall. The output is a clean sRGB JPEG at the target aspect ratio.
Yes. The cropper runs in any modern mobile browser — Safari on iOS, Chrome on Android. Touch gestures work for drag-adjust and pinch-zoom on the crop box. Upload from the camera roll, crop, and save back to your phone in under a minute.
A passport crop has three additional constraints on top of aspect ratio: (1) the head must fill a specific percentage of the frame (biometric head-height rule), (2) the eyes must sit at a specific vertical position, and (3) the crop must include the full head — no clipping the crown or the chin. A normal crop only cares about aspect ratio and framing.