Is 35 × 45 mm the same as 3.5 × 4.5 cm?

Yes — 35 × 45 millimetres is 3.5 × 4.5 centimetres, or roughly 1.38 × 1.77 inches. They are three ways of writing the same photo size.

How many pixels is a 35 × 45 mm passport photo?

413 × 531 pixels at 300 DPI, the resolution photo labs print at. If an online form asks for a larger minimum — the UK digital application wants at least 600 × 750 px — export at that pixel size instead; the proportions are the same.

Can I use a white background where light grey is required?

No. Automated checks measure the background, and a pure white backdrop is a documented failure reason for UK and German applications. Shoot against the colour the destination country publishes.

Does one photo work for both a passport and a Schengen visa?

The size is the same 35 × 45 mm, so the crop carries over. The other rules do not always: consulates set their own limits on how recent the photo must be and how it is submitted, so check the specific visa page before reusing an old file.

35 × 45 mm Passport Photo Size: 413 × 531 px, by Country

35 × 45 mm passport photo size

Outside North America most countries print passport photos to the same rectangle: 35 mm wide by 45 mm tall, which is 413 × 531 pixels at 300 DPI. The UK, the Schengen countries, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand all use it. The outer size is shared — the background colour and how much of the frame your head has to fill are not, and that is where most rejected photos actually fail.

Millimeters

35 × 45 mm

Inches

1.38 × 1.77 in

Pixels (300 DPI)

413 × 531 px

Countries using 35 × 45 mm

Same crop, different fine print. Each row links to the authority that publishes the rule, because these are the pages that change — not the millimetres.

Country	Background	Head height / notes	Official source
United KingdomFull guide	Plain light grey or cream	For the digital passport application you upload a photo at least 600 × 750 px; for printed photos the size is 35 × 45 mm.	GOV.UK
Australia	Plain white or light grey	The official spec allows 35–40 mm wide by 45–50 mm tall; 35 × 45 mm sits safely inside that range.	Australian Passport Office
Germany	Plain light grey	Germany follows the 35 × 45 mm biometric standard used across the Schengen Area, with the head 32–36 mm high.	Bundesdruckerei / Auswärtiges Amt
France	Plain light grey	France uses the 35 × 45 mm Schengen standard; the head must be 32–36 mm from chin to crown.	Service-Public.fr
Spain	Plain white	Spain follows the 35 × 45 mm standard for passports and Schengen visas. The older national DNI photo used a smaller size, so check your specific application.	Policía Nacional
Italy	Plain white or light grey	Italy follows the ICAO 35 × 45 mm standard shared across the Schengen Area.	Polizia di Stato
Netherlands	Plain light grey	The Netherlands uses the 35 × 45 mm Schengen standard.	Rijksoverheid
Japan	Plain white or light blue	Japan uses 35 × 45 mm; the head (crown to chin) should be 34 ± 2 mm.	Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
South Korea	Plain white	South Korea uses 35 × 45 mm with the head 25–35 mm high.	Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore	Plain white	Singapore's ICA uses 35 × 45 mm with the head 25–35 mm from chin to crown.	ICA Singapore
New Zealand	Plain light grey or white	New Zealand uses 35 × 45 mm and also accepts a digital photo uploaded during the online renewal.	New Zealand Passports (DIA)

Why so many countries share this size

The 35 × 45 mm format comes out of ICAO Doc 9303, the specification behind machine-readable passports. It fixes the proportions of the face inside the frame so that border systems can compare a printed photo with a live face or a stored template. Once the biometric requirements were agreed, most issuing authorities standardised on the same print size rather than maintaining their own.

In other units the same photo is 3.5 × 4.5 cm, or about 1.38 × 1.77 inches. At the 300 DPI that photo labs print at, that is 413 × 531 pixels. Some online applications ask for a larger minimum instead of a physical size — the UK digital service, for example, wants at least 600 × 750 pixels — so read the upload form as well as the print spec.

What still differs by country

Four things vary between the countries in the table above. All four are common rejection reasons, and none of them are visible in the millimetres.

Background colour

Germany, France and the Netherlands want plain light grey. Spain, South Korea and Singapore want plain white. Japan accepts white or a light blue. The UK asks for light grey or cream and explicitly warns that pure white can fail its automated check. Photograph against the colour the destination country asks for — you cannot recolour your way out of it convincingly.

How much of the frame your head fills

The Schengen countries specify a head 32–36 mm from chin to crown. Japan uses 34 mm ± 2 mm. South Korea and Singapore allow 25–35 mm. Australia publishes a size range for the photo itself (35–40 mm wide by 45–50 mm tall) rather than a single value. Cropping to the right rectangle with the head too small is still a rejection.

Printed photo vs digital upload

A paper application takes a 35 × 45 mm print. An online application takes a file with a minimum pixel size and often a maximum file size in KB. Those are different requirements for the same photo, and a file that satisfies one can fail the other.

Age, expression and glasses

Most authorities want a photo taken within the last six months, a neutral expression with the mouth closed, both eyes visible, and no tinted lenses or heavy glare. Some now refuse glasses entirely. This is the part of the rule most likely to have changed since the last time you applied.

How to crop a 35 × 45 mm photo

You do not need a photo studio for the crop itself — a straight, evenly lit photo against the right background is enough to work from.

Open the ID photo tool and pick the 35 × 45 mm preset, or enter 413 × 531 px manually.
Position your head inside the guide so it fills the height your destination country asks for, then export at 413 × 531 px. HEIC straight from an iPhone works — nothing is uploaded.
If the upload form rejects the file for being too large, compress it before you resize it — dropping resolution to hit a KB limit is what makes a photo blurry.

Before you submit

Treat this page as a cropping reference, not as the regulation. Requirements change, and consulates sometimes apply stricter rules than the passport authority of the same country. Open the official source in the row for your country and confirm the background, head height, photo age and file limits on the actual form you are filling in.

35 × 45 mm questions

Is 35 × 45 mm the same as 3.5 × 4.5 cm?: Yes — 35 × 45 millimetres is 3.5 × 4.5 centimetres, or roughly 1.38 × 1.77 inches. They are three ways of writing the same photo size.
How many pixels is a 35 × 45 mm passport photo?: 413 × 531 pixels at 300 DPI, the resolution photo labs print at. If an online form asks for a larger minimum — the UK digital application wants at least 600 × 750 px — export at that pixel size instead; the proportions are the same.
Can I use a white background where light grey is required?: No. Automated checks measure the background, and a pure white backdrop is a documented failure reason for UK and German applications. Shoot against the colour the destination country publishes.
Does one photo work for both a passport and a Schengen visa?: The size is the same 35 × 45 mm, so the crop carries over. The other rules do not always: consulates set their own limits on how recent the photo must be and how it is submitted, so check the specific visa page before reusing an old file.

Crop a 35 × 45 mm photo now

Export 413 × 531 px from a HEIC, JPG or PNG in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no watermark.

Open the ID photo tool Compress for upload limits

Sizes are references for cropping. Always confirm the exact requirement — background color, head height, file format, and maximum file size — on the official application before you submit.