CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart charge $14.99 for two 2×2 inch passport photos in 2026. The actual cost of materials — one sheet of 4×6 photo paper and a few cents of inkjet ink — is under $0.40. The rest is the convenience tax of having someone else operate a printer and the camera at the same time.
If you already have the photo (taken on a phone, run through a compliance checker, cropped to the right size), printing it at home takes about 60 seconds and costs roughly $0.40. The catch is that you have to know what kind of paper to buy, what printer settings to use, and how to lay the photos out so the print shop’s standard 4×6 print size gives you two correctly-sized passport photos.
This guide covers the whole process. By the end you’ll be set up to print as many passport photos as you need, for the family, for any country, at any time.
When home printing is worth it
Home printing makes sense if:
- You’re applying for more than one passport (whole family, two partners, kids and parents).
- You need photos for multiple documents in a short window (passport + driving licence + visa application).
- You have a printer that produces decent photo prints — most inkjets from the last five years qualify.
- You’ve had a photo rejected once and don’t want to pay $15 to retake at the pharmacy.
It’s probably not worth it if:
- You only need two photos, one time, and you don’t already own photo paper.
- You don’t own a colour printer.
- You’re submitting through a system that only accepts digital upload (some UK and US passport renewals — see below).
When you can skip printing entirely
Most online passport submission systems now accept digital photo upload:
- UK passport renewals via GOV.UK — digital upload, no print.
- US passport applications via Form DS-82 online renewal — digital in some states.
- Canadian passport renewal — still requires a printed photo for most applications.
- Schengen visa applications — mostly require printed photos at in-person appointments, sometimes accept digital.
- Indian passport / OCI — digital upload accepted.
If you’re submitting digitally, generate the file in the editor and skip this guide entirely. If you have a mailed or in-person application that requires a physical print, read on.
What you need
A printer
Any colour inkjet or laser printer from the last 5–10 years works. You want one that:
- Prints at 300 DPI or higher. Almost all consumer printers from 2015 onward do this.
- Can print on photo paper (not just plain paper). Most inkjets handle this; some basic laser printers don’t accept glossy photo stock.
- Has working colour cartridges. The most common issue is dried cyan or magenta from a printer that hasn’t been used in months.
If you’re choosing a new printer specifically for photo printing, the Canon PIXMA TS series and Epson EcoTank are the consumer picks that produce passport-quality prints reliably.
The paper
The right paper is what separates a passport photo from a colour photocopy. Three things matter:
- Weight: 200–230 gsm. This is the standard “photo paper” weight. Anything thinner (printer paper at 80 gsm, or “premium” inkjet at 120 gsm) is too floppy and the print sits poorly in a passport application envelope.
- Finish: glossy or matte (semi-gloss / lustre also fine). Most countries accept either. The US accepts both. The UK historically preferred matte but now accepts either. Avoid “high gloss” — it sometimes glares under the booth lighting used during in-person verification.
- Size: 4×6 inches (10×15 cm). This is the standard photo paper size and what almost every consumer printer is calibrated for. You can print on larger sheets and cut down, but 4×6 is cheapest and easiest.
Recommended brands: Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II (PP-201), Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper, HP Advanced Glossy Photo Paper. A 50-sheet pack costs about $15 and gives you 100 passport photos.
A guillotine, paper trimmer, or sharp scissors
The 4×6 print contains two passport photos plus borders. You need to cut along the printed crop marks. A guillotine trimmer ($15 at any office supply shop) gives the cleanest edges. Scissors work if you follow the crop lines carefully.
Step 1: Generate the print-ready file
Open the photo in the in-browser editor. Pick your country and document type — the system loads the official spec.
Three things have to happen before you print:
- The photo has to be cropped to the right aspect ratio. US is 2×2 inches square. UK is 35×45 mm. Most Schengen is 35×45 mm. Australia is 35×45 mm. India is 51×51 mm.
- The head height has to be in the correct band. For the US, the head must occupy 50–69% of the photo height. For the UK, the chin-to-crown measurement must be 29–34 mm. The editor sets this automatically once you pick your country.
- The file has to be in a print-ready format and resolution. 300 DPI minimum, sRGB colour space, no compression artefacts.
The editor exports a print sheet — a 4×6 inch (or 6×4 inch for UK) image containing two correctly-sized passport photos with crop marks. This is the file you send to the printer.
If you cropped the photo yourself in another tool, double-check the DPI: 300 DPI at 2×2 inches means a 600×600 pixel image at minimum.
Step 2: Printer settings
This is where home prints usually go wrong. The defaults on most printers are tuned for plain paper or fast colour prints, not for photo accuracy.
Open the print dialog and set:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Paper type | Photo Paper Glossy (or whatever matches your paper exactly) |
| Paper size | 4×6 in / 10×15 cm |
| Print quality | Best / High / Photo (not Draft, not Normal) |
| Colour mode | Colour |
| Colour management | Printer Manages Colour (or “ICC profile auto”) |
| Borderless printing | On |
| Scale | 100% / Actual Size — NOT “Fit to Page” |
| Auto-enhance / Auto-correct | OFF |
The “scale 100%” setting is the most important one. If the printer re-scales the image to fit the page, the resulting passport photo won’t be exactly 2×2 inches and may be rejected at submission.
The “auto-enhance off” setting is the second most important. Many printers default to “improve photos” which boosts contrast and saturation. For a passport photo this counts as digital editing and can be flagged. Turn it off in the print driver settings.
Mac-specific note
On macOS, the colour management defaults are usually fine. Make sure you’re using the printer driver’s print dialog (click “Show Details” in the print window) and not the basic system one — the basic dialog doesn’t expose the photo-quality and scale settings.
Windows-specific note
On Windows, the “Photo Print Wizard” sometimes overrides your scale setting. If you have access, print from the printer manufacturer’s software (Canon Easy-PhotoPrint, Epson Photo+, HP Smart) — these respect the actual file dimensions.
Step 3: Print one test sheet first
Don’t print on photo paper immediately. Print one test sheet on plain paper to confirm:
- The two photos are appearing at the right size (measure with a ruler — 2×2 inches for US, 35×45 mm for UK).
- The crop marks are visible.
- The colours look roughly right (skin tone not too red, not too yellow).
- The orientation is correct.
If anything’s wrong, fix the print settings before you burn photo paper.
Step 4: Print on photo paper
Load the photo paper into the printer’s paper tray. Photo paper has a printable side and a back side — the printable side is usually glossier and brighter white. Most printers have an arrow on the paper tray showing which way the paper should face.
For most inkjets, you load photo paper one sheet at a time to avoid the rollers picking up the wrong side or smudging the previous print.
Print one sheet. Let it dry for 30 seconds before handling — fresh ink smudges easily.
Step 5: Cut the photos
Use the crop marks the editor printed on the sheet. A guillotine trimmer makes this trivial — align the photo with the cut line, lower the blade once per cut.
If you’re using scissors:
- Cut along the long lines first, then the short ones.
- Don’t cut inside the crop marks. Leaving 0.5 mm of white border is fine; cutting into the photo is not.
- Sharp scissors only. A blunt pair leaves ragged edges that get flagged at submission.
Country-specific layouts
United States (2×2 inches, on 4×6 paper)
Standard 4×6 inch photo print fits two 2×2 inch photos side by side with white space for cutting marks. This is what the editor produces by default for US output.
The US State Department actually accepts a single 2×2 inch photo, but printing two on a 4×6 sheet gives you a backup in case the first one is damaged in the mail.
United Kingdom (35×45 mm, on 6×4 inch paper)
A 6×4 inch photo print fits two 35×45 mm photos with room for cutting. The UK Home Office requires one printed photo for paper applications. The second is a backup.
Note: for UK passport applications submitted online via GOV.UK, no print is required. The system accepts digital uploads only. The print version is for postal applications, some renewals, and counter-signed forms.
Schengen / EU (35×45 mm)
Same layout as UK — two 35×45 mm photos on a 6×4 inch sheet. The Schengen photo spec is nearly identical to the UK biometric spec, so the same print template works.
Canada (50×70 mm)
Canadian passport photos are unusually large at 50×70 mm. A 4×6 inch sheet (10×15 cm) fits only one correctly-sized photo with white border, so you may want to print two sheets if you need two copies.
The editor’s Canada preset generates the correct layout.
Australia (35×45 mm)
Same as UK / Schengen.
India (51×51 mm)
A 4×6 inch sheet fits two 51×51 mm photos side by side.
Home print vs photo booth vs pharmacy
| Method | Cost (2 photos) | Time | Quality | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home print (existing setup) | $0.40 | 5 min | High if printer is good | High when paired with compliance check |
| Home print (new printer + paper) | $80 first time, $0.40 per print after | 30 min first time | High | High |
| Pharmacy (CVS / Walgreens / Walmart) | $14.99 | 30 min round trip | Medium | Medium — pharmacy staff don’t always check biometric specs |
| Photo booth (UK Post Office / Costco) | £6 / $7 | 5 min on-site | Medium | High when booth is calibrated correctly |
| Professional photo studio | $20–40 | 1 hour | Highest | Highest |
The home print’s acceptance rate depends entirely on whether the photo itself is compliant. A correctly-shot photo printed at home on photo paper passes the same checks as a pharmacy print — the pharmacy charges for the camera and the convenience, not for the print quality.
Common print mistakes
Wrong scale
The photo prints but it’s 2.1×2.1 inches instead of 2×2. Caused by “Fit to Page” or “Shrink to Fit” being on. Set scale to exactly 100% in the print dialog.
Colour cast
The skin looks too red, too yellow, or too blue. Caused by the wrong paper-type setting in the printer driver. The printer is laying down too much or too little ink because it thinks the paper is something else. Set the paper type to match exactly what’s loaded.
Banding
Horizontal lines visible across the photo. Caused by a clogged print head or low ink. Run the printer’s head-cleaning cycle, then print again.
Smudges
Fingerprints or scratches on the surface. Caused by handling the print before the ink dried. Let prints sit for at least 30 seconds before touching, longer for high-gloss paper.
Off-centre crop
The cutting line goes through the photo instead of beside it. Caused by the print being scaled or shifted on the page. Re-export from the editor (don’t crop manually) and re-print.
Photo paper too thin or too thick
Below 200 gsm: photo looks flimsy, can crease in the application envelope. Above 250 gsm: some printers can’t grip thick paper and it jams. Stick to the 200–230 gsm range.
A note on ink
For the longevity of a passport photo (the physical print lasts the life of your passport — 10 years for adults in most countries), the ink matters more than people think.
Dye-based inks (most consumer inkjets) fade in direct sunlight over months to a few years. Stored in a passport, they’ll outlast the passport itself. Fine for passport submission.
Pigment-based inks (Epson EcoTank, some Canon Pro) are archival — they don’t fade for decades. Overkill for passports but worth knowing if you have one of these printers.
Laser printer toner is also archival and works fine on glossy paper, though the matte finish from laser is different from the glossy ink finish — both are accepted.
The final check before you print
Don’t print a photo you haven’t compliance-checked. The 60 seconds of printing saves $15; the two-week delay of submitting a rejected photo costs much more.
Run the file through the editor — it checks every biometric requirement (head size, expression, background, lighting, glasses, shadows) against your country’s official spec before you download the print sheet. If any check fails, fix it in the editor before you commit ink to paper.
For the full list of what reviewers check, see 22 reasons passport photos get rejected. For exact size and background requirements by country, see the requirements hub.