How to print a passport photo at home (4×6 sheet, any printer)

Print a passport photo at home on standard 4×6 photo paper. Paper type, printer settings, page-scale rules, and how to trim a 4×6 sheet for a clean, sharp result.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-01

TL;DR

Use 4×6 in glossy photo paper (200 gsm+), print at 100% scale and highest quality, disable any "auto-enhance" option, and cut along the corner guides. The 4×6 sheet generated by our tool already arranges the right number of photos for your country's template.

Step-by-step

Buy 4×6 inch glossy photo paper. Use 4×6 in (10 × 15 cm) photo paper labelled at least 200 gsm. Glossy paper renders skin tones better than matte and dries quickly on consumer inkjets. Avoid plain printer paper — passport offices reject visibly textured paper.
Download our 4×6 print sheet. Open the country page for your document, upload a portrait, and download the print sheet. The sheet packs 2 – 8 compliant photos onto a single 4×6 layout with light cut guides at the corners.
Open the file in your OS preview app and print at 100% scale. In macOS Preview or Windows Photos: choose 4×6 paper size, set scale to Fit / 100% (do not pick "Shrink to fit"), and disable any "auto-enhance" or "photo correction" setting. Auto-correction will shift skin tone away from the spec.
Choose "Best" / highest DPI in the printer driver. Set the driver to its highest quality / 300 DPI mode. Consumer photo printers down-sample anything lower, which softens the eye line — a common rejection trigger.
Cut along the corner crop marks. Use a paper trimmer or a sharp craft knife and a metal ruler. Cut just inside the cut guides so no white border remains. Round corners only if your authority specifies it (most do not).

What to avoid

"Shrink to fit" page scaling — the most common silent failure. Always print at 100% scale.
Driver "photo enhance" — shifts skin tone and pushes backgrounds off-spec.
Matte or recycled paper — texture is visible at the desk and often grounds for rejection.
Trimming with scissors — wavy edges are not strictly a rejection trigger but make a poor first impression at the counter.

FAQ

Can I print a passport photo on regular A4 paper?

Most authorities reject non-photo paper. Use 4×6 in (10×15 cm) glossy photo paper at 200 gsm or heavier. A4 is only safe if you trim the photo precisely and the authority accepts standard glossy office photo paper.

What DPI should I print a passport photo at?

Print at the printer's highest quality setting, which targets 300 DPI or above. Our generated JPEG already embeds 300 DPI metadata — do not let the OS "auto-fit" or "scale down" the file, as both reduce effective resolution.

Can I print at CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart instead?

Yes. Our 4×6 sheet is sized to match CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, FedEx Office, and Costco kiosks. Upload it as a regular photo and pick the 4×6 print option — your sheet will come back ready to cut.

Does the printer need to be a photo printer?

A standard inkjet works if it has a photo-paper feed slot and supports 4×6 paper size. Laser printers tend to produce wax-textured photos that get rejected; stick with inkjet + glossy paper.

Should I round the corners of the printed photo?

Only if your authority's checklist says so (most do not). When in doubt leave the corners square — cutting them rounded only to find the spec required square corners means a reprint.

Make a printable photo now

Start from choose a document — every country page produces a 4×6 print sheet automatically.