Did you do your own passport photos (at home)?

[Married_my_love 0]

We are going to DCF tomorrow and we're strapped for cash. I have all the technology goodies here to do our own photos and wanted to ask the VJ public, who did their own? I guess if we get there and they won't accept them we can hit the streets of Toronto to get some done but I'd really like to save the cash...

I found a website that shows how to get the dimensions right in photoshop (AND sorry if this isn't "off topic" but I wanted to ask a more general crowd, rather than a specific forum). I've got a nice canon printer that does photos as good as walmart or the like....

just wanted to ask, thanks

[sarah and hicham 3]

I have no idea if that's acceptable... I guess if you do the white background on the thick paper with the right dimensions it would be ok!

Good luck!

[Lou Lou 1]

We did the official pics at home, even when they required the fancy side profile version. They've never been rejected yet. Good luck. Measure, double check, and measure again.

[Married_my_love 0]

We did the official pics at home, even when they required the fancy side profile version. They've never been rejected yet. Good luck. Measure, double check, and measure again.

Thanks Lou lou!!

[rclouse 0]

The US won't accept an inkjet photograph, it has to be printed on photo paper. Just take your memory card to a drug store and get a few 3X5s, then cut them to the 2"X2" required. You'll be out $4, $5 tops.

[solarus 0]

We are going to DCF tomorrow and we're strapped for cash. I have all the technology goodies here to do our own photos and wanted to ask the VJ public, who did their own? I guess if we get there and they won't accept them we can hit the streets of Toronto to get some done but I'd really like to save the cash...

I found a website that shows how to get the dimensions right in photoshop (AND sorry if this isn't "off topic" but I wanted to ask a more general crowd, rather than a specific forum). I've got a nice canon printer that does photos as good as walmart or the like....

just wanted to ask, thanks

I paid way too much for passport photos. They aren't picky in the US with the photos being signed, notarised, and dated etc. When I went for a bunch for my AOS/EAD apps the guy charged me close to $40, and all he did was stand me up against a wall and snap a shot with a shitty digital. (I own 3 pro digital cameras.)

So, to answer your question, NO PROBLEM. Just follow the passport photo guide lines exactly. Make sure it is on a white/ off white even background. No shadows. full face - (and don't get too close with a wide lense, better to zoom in, you don't want distortion.)

I took photos of my wife for here new US passport (new name after marriage). They accpted them no problem. I even went back to the photo store that bilked me on my photos and they printed them no charge. (it would have only been $2 for 4 x 4"x6" digital print. I put 2 per 4"x6" and cut them out at home. Now we have extras, plus a digital file if we should need more.)

ALSO - I saw a kodak photo kiosk at the drugstore here that has a passport photo size option - very inexpensiive. That may be easier if you don't have photoshop or something similar.

I think the key is that the final print be on REAL photo paper, as opposed to a color printer.

[Marilyn. 340]

http://travel.state.gov/passport/guide/dig...igital_880.html

[luvaLimey 0]

several years ago, when I was getting my passport for myself as well as my ex-husband and two small children in order to go overseas for work,

We used a digital camera to take the pics, photoshop to get the dinemsions and lighting right, and our printer to print them out.

We took the photos with each of us standing against the white wall in the apartment, with the blinds up and lights on so our faces would be well lit and without shadows. I kneeled down at the same level as my three year old son so I could get his face dead on. My other son was 4 months old at the time, so I laid him on a white sheet and bent over him to get a good pic of his face.

They were good enough not just for the passport people, but also for the visa issuance for entry into Malaysia.

I'd say as long as you meet the guidelines for size, proportions, and lighting, it's a great way to save a little cash.

[Addie_Goodvibes 0]

Paid $12.oo USD for Kinkos to do it , worth the $ to me not to have to worry about the right papaer dimensions ect..

[sophyie 0]

I have made all my passport pictures myself since I paid a LOT for really bad quality "professional" pictures 2 years ago, and they have alway been accepted.

I recently used them for my I- 130 petition and the medical in the Frankfurt consulate and they were fine.

All we did was to make sure to stick to the guidelines, there are some very detailed sites on the web (if I remember correctly, even linked to the USCIS page).

There was really only one tricky thing: avoiding the really hard shadow on the wall behind the face if a flash is used.

We softened the flash with white cloth and added lamps between person and wall to get rid of the shadows.

I'll see whether they will be accepted when I have to hand in the pictures for the greencard

Just because I like to worry about things, I have considered to have them printed out professionaly at one of the terminals mentioned in the posts before...

Worst case: in the Frankfurt consulate there is a possibility of having pictures taken, I believe it is 5€, which I find inexpensive. Maybe you could find out whether there is one in the consulat you'll go to?

Good luck!

sophyie

[Married_my_love 0]

The US won't accept an inkjet photograph, it has to be printed on photo paper. Just take your memory card to a drug store and get a few 3X5s, then cut them to the 2"X2" required. You'll be out $4, $5 tops.

Your note says they won't accept inkjet....

but directly from their site:

Certain types of digital printers such as — inkjet and dye sublimation — can be used to produce high-quality passport and visa photos. Inkjet printers deposit multi-colored ink onto photographic print paper. Dye sublimation printers use heat, applied to a multi-colored ribbon or film, to release a dye that is transferred onto photographic print paper. These two types of printers, when used with compatible print paper that produces high resolution, photo-like images, are suitable for printing passport and visa photos.

What did you guys who have used them and had them accepted use for printing?

I have them complete, there are no shadows, the dimensions are perfecto and they're printed on high quality kodak. But it is an inkjet, so I will let you know tomorrow if they accept them!!

[rclouse 0]

The US won't accept an inkjet photograph, it has to be printed on photo paper. Just take your memory card to a drug store and get a few 3X5s, then cut them to the 2"X2" required. You'll be out $4, $5 tops.

Your note says they won't accept inkjet....

but directly from their site:

Certain types of digital printers such as — inkjet and dye sublimation — can be used to produce high-quality passport and visa photos. Inkjet printers deposit multi-colored ink onto photographic print paper. Dye sublimation printers use heat, applied to a multi-colored ribbon or film, to release a dye that is transferred onto photographic print paper. These two types of printers, when used with compatible print paper that produces high resolution, photo-like images, are suitable for printing passport and visa photos.

What did you guys who have used them and had them accepted use for printing?

I have them complete, there are no shadows, the dimensions are perfecto and they're printed on high quality kodak. But it is an inkjet, so I will let you know tomorrow if they accept them!!

Huh, they changed then. I tried to send in an inkjet photo for a passport a few years ago and they bounced it.

[Married_my_love 0]

Maybe because technology has come so far and you can buy inkjets that print high res now....

[solarus 0]

Maybe because technology has come so far and you can buy inkjets that print high res now....

The inks in a quality printer also last years and years without fading, some don't run when wet ... I think the big issue - and this is in the US passport application I picked up, and I don't see it on the webpage - that they be able to withstand a fair bit of heat for the lamination process. I don't have the application form anymore but i think it was 200F (Correct me if I'm wrong). I just went to a photo lab with my digital file and got 4 prints at 0.30c each. probably cheaper than paper and ink at home.

[Married_my_love 0]

Update: homemade passport photos were accepted without a blink at Toronto embassy!