Passport-Photo.Online Review

Features
Ease of Use
Performance
Verdict

If you're due to renew your passport or need to update your driving license with a new photo, passport-photo.online promises that creating document photos with them is an easy, quick process with guaranteed acceptance from the authority you're sending them to. With this in mind, and holidays hopefully back on the cards soon, we've been putting the online tool to the test to find out if it's really as easy to use as the company claims.  

Passport-Photo.Online Features

With passport-photo.online, you can create passport images within a few minutes which you can download and keep on your computer/smartphone device or have prints shipped to your home. Plus, as well as creating passport pictures, you can make a variety of other IDs including US Visa Photos, European Union Visas Photos, UK Driving License Photos etc. If you'd prefer to create your passport images from your smartphone, apps are available from the Android and iOS stores which are free to download. 

There's also an option for parents who are looking for a quick and easy way to create baby passport photos as, let's face it, no one wants to be messing around perfecting passport photos of toddlers and babies who'd much prefer to be doing other things.   

As well as the tools you need to create your passport photos, the website also provides all of the current requirements you need to know about the document you are creating a photo for which includes guidelines, sizes and tips on how to take the best photo for your passport image. 

Of course, capturing the best image you can for your passport is advised but passport-photo.online has a photo booth app that will modify your photo if it's not quite right for the document you're creating it for. This includes cropping, framing, converting the size/resolution and changing the background to the required colour. There's also a validator built-in that uses artificial intelligence to check if your photo meets the requirements.

Even though the site offers these services, you still need to ensure your photo meets the requirements in regards to how you look at the camera, what you're wearing and how your hair sits. 

The most frequent mistakes when submitting a passport photo include:

• Smiling - you must not show any expression or have an open mouth
• Eyes Closed - you must look directly at the camera and not have your eyes closed 
• Poor Resolution - The image must be of good quality, not blurred or damaged in any way
• Wrong Sizes - UK Passport photos need to measure 45mm (height) x 35mm (width) and it's recommended that the face – from the bottom of the chin to the crown - is between 29mm and 34mm. Also, ensure there is a suitable distance between the edge of the picture and the subject's face and the photo must include the full head and upper shoulders. 

For more information on the rules on passport photos, have a look at our 'Passport Photos At Home' Guide.

To capture the best passport photo at home, get someone else to take the photo for you, find an evenly lit place in your home and stand about 1m away from a wall (a plain or white wall is best but passport-photo.online can remove backgrounds from images). The image must be captured straight on with no shadows behind, look straight at the camera, don't tilt your head, keep your eyes open and mouth closed. Don't smile and ensure your face/eyes aren't covered by your hair. For more advice, visit the UK Government website. 

To create and download your passport picture will cost you £5.95 and includes a money-back guarantee if the image is not accepted. If you want the image posting, it'll cost an extra £4.00. 

Passport-Photo.Online Ease of Use

When you first land on the passport-photo.online website there's a button you press to upload your passport photo as well as an explanation of their services, customer reviews and the photo size requirements for UK passports. They also provide instructions on how to capture the best passport picture as well as more advice on sizing, pose, lighting etc. As well as passport pictures, you can select other document options towards the bottom of the page or click the 'popular document' dropdown found at the top of the page. 

The process really couldn't be easier: Take your photo, upload it and then the AI will check it, crop it and remove the background. Once you hit 'upload image' it takes a matter of seconds for the website to process your image and present you with a preview. The preview has a watermark over it but this is removed when you purchase your photo. 

We tried to give the AI a bit of a challenge by uploading a longer portrait against a not quite white background and it managed to crop it to the size needed and adjust the background without any issues. 

You can also see a 'detailed photo criteria' list which shows you what the AI has checked and adjusted. Plus, every photo is additionally checked by experts and if needed, further corrected and shared with you. 

Once you're happy with the result, you can make payment by card or Paypal and an image will be emailed to you directly or you can have them posted to your house (for an additional cost). You can also take and upload as many photos as you like as you only pay when you are satisfied with the results. There's no obvious path to return to where you upload your image which is a small annoyance but you simply click the back button in your browser to go to the previous step. 

Passport-Photo.Online Performance/Results

As you can see from the image below, the results are great and they are sent to you via email swiftly. If there are any issues with the image, you receive an email that explains what's wrong so you can send another image over. They also have a team who will make manual adjustments if they feel the image needs it. If there are any issues, the team usually reach out to you within an hour but the pandemic is currently extending contact times. You can download your photo without waiting for validation but we'd recommend waiting for the team's response before beginning your passport application. As well as an image for online application submission you receive a file for printing should you need it. 

Value For Money

passport-photo.online offers similar prices (around £5) to other sites such as 123PassportPhoto and ThePhotoApp but passport-photo.online is much easier to use and the site looks more professional. Asda has an online service for passport photos with prices starting at £2.50 (plus delivery) but it's not the easiest thing to use and many of the online printing specialists such as Pixum also offer a passport printing service but we've not put them to the test for ease of use. 

Passport-Photo.Online Verdict

If you're looking for a quick way to ensure your portrait is passport-photo-ready, you'll most certainly find that passport-photo.online is a really useful tool. The process is quick and easy to follow as AI does most of the work for you and the end results are excellent. Yes, you can follow instructions and shoot, edit and upload your own images to the Gov passport website but with the help of passport-photo.online you take the worry out of the image being rejected as the site guarantees images will be accepted. Customer service is great, too, with quick responses and easy to understand emails should anything be wrong with the image you submitted. It can take a couple of attempts to get everything ticked off the checklist for what's considered a 'good' photo and the process of going back to where you find the upload button is slightly annoying but apart from that, we had no problems with passport-photo.online and are more than happy to 'Highly Recommend them. 

Save time and money by capturing passport photos from the comfort of your own home with the added guarantee that your images will be accepted.