How to take a passport size photo at home with a phone

A studio is not needed for an exam form photo. A phone, a plain wall and daylight are enough, if you set them up with a little care.

What you need

• A phone with a working back camera. The back camera is sharper than the selfie camera.
• A plain white or very light wall. A white bedsheet pulled tight also works.
• Daylight from a window, or a bright room light in front of you.
• Someone to hold the phone, or a shelf to rest it on.

Step by step

1. Face the light. Stand so the window is in front of you, not behind you and not to one side. Light from the front removes shadows on the face.
2. Step away from the wall. Stand about two steps in front of it. This keeps your shadow off the wall.
3. Camera at eye level. The phone should be level with your eyes, about four to five steps away. Do not tilt it up or down.
4. Frame from the chest up. Leave space above the head. You will crop closer later.
5. Look straight, face relaxed, mouth closed. Both ears visible if your exam asks for it. NTA asks for the ears to be seen in JEE Main, NEET and CUET photos.
6. Take several pictures and choose the sharpest one. Zoom in on the eyes to check sharpness.

What to wear, and what to remove

Wear a plain shirt or top in a colour darker than the wall, so the shoulders stand out from the background. Remove caps and sunglasses. Rules on ordinary spectacles differ: SSC asks for no spectacles in its live photo, while IBPS and GATE allow them if there is no reflection or glare. Read your exam's page.

Do not edit the face

Do not use beauty filters, background-changing apps or face smoothing. NTA's NEET bulletin, for one, says photographs that look fabricated or computer made can get an application rejected. Cropping and resizing are fine.

Crop and resize

A passport photo is taller than it is wide: 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm is the usual shape. Crop so that the face fills most of the frame. NTA asks for about 80% face; GATE asks for 60 to 70%. Then bring the file down to the KB range of your exam.

Check the official notice before you upload. We read these rules in the documents named under Sources on 11 November 2026. A new notice can change them, and the form on the day is the final word. This site is not connected with any exam body.

Next step

Open the resize tool Find your exam's rules

More guides