Submitting 2x2 digital picture online (for I-130) (merged)

[Tereza 27]

Hello

We have been struggling with the pictures for a while so I hope someone will be able to help here . We took our pictures twice, we tried my DSLR camera and a phone, but our problem is getting it to the right size.

They say 2x2 inches but I believe the actual physical size depends on the printer they use and it's DPI? And how the hell am I supposed to know that...

I tried some of the online tools, but the pictures downloaded in 1200x1200 pixels which I am convinced is not the right size even though they promised 2x2 inch pictures. So I also tried resizing them in Paint, the DPI of the pictures said 96 so I went with 192 pixels which produced a picture of the correct size (according to the travel.gov website where they provide a square that is 2x2 inches to compare your photo to and my pictures were the exact same size so yay), but the quality is much lower and idk if it's good enough - it looks ok, untill I zoom in - but then it will eventually be printed small anyways so maybe it doesnt matter? Obviously its a picture of 192x192 pixels so logically the quality will be poor. (and to add more complexity, I did the same with the phone pictures, their size is the same as the one's I took with my camera, but now I checked and the DPI says 72, not 96, so what the heck)

What if I just give them the 1200x1200 pixels sqare pictures? Will I get an RFE or will they print it just fine?. I know I could print the pictures myself and then scan them, but that seems like extra steps we shouldn't have to take...

I also just remembered that my husband found somewhere on the government website a "tip" that the 2x2 picture is actually 600x600 pixels (that would suggest DPI of 300), but I can't find that page anymore.

 

I feel like this should not be this hard...

Thank you, any help will be appreciated (I just dont wanna get an RFE because of something silly like that)

[payxibka 10,045]

I use Draw from Open Office,  resizing an image is very easy.

[Tereza 27]

Hello

We took our I-130 pictures ourselves with a phone camera, in front of a white wall, which unfortunatelly has some kind of texture on it (there's literally no plain wall in this house and I mean none). At the size the pictures will be printed at it won't matter, but when zoomed in it's visible. I know the background should be plain, but do those few dots actually matter? The pictures are otherwise good, correct size, good light, good pisition, no glasses or anything like that. Could we get an RFE because of that or is that ok?

We are kinda in the middle of nowhere right now so I'd like to know how strict they are on those pics before we take the trip to get them done "professionally". I read somewhere in another thread that usually they return them when they're too dark/bright or wrong size so I'd hope that a little uneven background (but still white) wouldn't be a deal breaker

[payxibka 10,045]

I have bever heard of anyone getting an RFE to redo photos.

[top_secret 2,417]

 

2 hours ago, Tereza said:

I tried some of the online tools, but the pictures downloaded in 1200x1200 pixels which I am convinced is not the right size even though they promised 2x2 inch pictures.

1200 X 1200 is 2"X2" at 600 DPI.  So it meets and exceeds the requirement.   US would be happy with only 300 DPI but wouldn't complain if it were better than that at 600 DPI.

[millefleur 5,046]

**Threads on the same topic merged. Please do not start more than one thread on the same topic as this is considered spamming the boards.**

 

VJ Moderation

[Mike E 11,739]

3 hours ago, Tereza said:

Hello

We took our I-130 pictures ourselves with a phone camera, in front of a white wall, which unfortunatelly has some kind of texture on it (there's literally no plain wall in this house and I mean none).

There are tools on the web that let you add a virtual background. 

[Tereza 27]

Just now, Mike E said:

There are tools on the web that let you add a virtual background. 

I thought they will know if you edited the picture and that's not accepted? ... I was going to just blur the background a bit, but Im worried they'll figure it out ?

[Mike E 11,739]

23 minutes ago, Tereza said:

I thought they will know if you edited the picture and that's not accepted? ... I was going to just blur the background a bit, but Im worried they'll figure it out ?

In principle nothing prevents a digital camera from taking a real image and converting it into segments in order to reduce the file size of the image.  IOW cameras can do the same thing.  Then there are apps like zoom that add virtual backgrounds to live images.  
 

You can print to photo paper and then scan if you are concerned. 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Mike E

[Tereza 27]

Just now, Mike E said:

In principle nothing prevents a digital camera from taking a real image and converting it into segments in order to reduce the file size of the image.  IOW cameras can do the same thing.  Then there are apps like zoom that add virtual backgrounds to live images.  
 

You can print to photo paper and then scan if you are concerned. 

I guess Im just going to use some one of those online tools to change the background. Im not sure what IOW is, unless you meant ios? The onle website I found seems to have good reviews and the preview picture looks good (they even got the hair right where it sticks away from my head lol). Ever used passport-photo.online?

[Mike E 11,739]

6 minutes ago, Tereza said:

I guess Im just going to use some one of those online tools to change the background. Im not sure what IOW is,

 

In Other Words 

 

AFAIK - as far as I know 

 

etc 

 

Quote

unless you meant ios? The onle website I found seems to have good reviews and the preview picture looks good (they even got the hair right where it sticks away from my head lol). Ever used passport-photo.online?

I never use online passport photo makers that charge a fee.  $6.95 for a photo? I could buy a six pack of Korean beer at K market and get back change.  

Edited July 29, 2021 by Mike E

[Tereza 27]

Just now, Mike E said:

 

In Other Words 

 

AFAIK - as far as I know 

 

etc 

 

I never use online passport photo makers that charge a fee.  $6.95 for a photo? I could buy a six pack of Korean beer at K market and get back change.  

Fair enough My logic was it'd be just as expensive + gas money if we went to get it done somewhere so we may as well save ourselves some time

[TedsGirl 193]

11 hours ago, Tereza said:

Hello

We have been struggling with the pictures for a while so I hope someone will be able to help here . We took our pictures twice, we tried my DSLR camera and a phone, but our problem is getting it to the right size.

They say 2x2 inches but I believe the actual physical size depends on the printer they use and it's DPI? And how the hell am I supposed to know that...

I tried some of the online tools, but the pictures downloaded in 1200x1200 pixels which I am convinced is not the right size even though they promised 2x2 inch pictures. So I also tried resizing them in Paint, the DPI of the pictures said 96 so I went with 192 pixels which produced a picture of the correct size (according to the travel.gov website where they provide a square that is 2x2 inches to compare your photo to and my pictures were the exact same size so yay), but the quality is much lower and idk if it's good enough - it looks ok, untill I zoom in - but then it will eventually be printed small anyways so maybe it doesnt matter? Obviously its a picture of 192x192 pixels so logically the quality will be poor. (and to add more complexity, I did the same with the phone pictures, their size is the same as the one's I took with my camera, but now I checked and the DPI says 72, not 96, so what the heck)

What if I just give them the 1200x1200 pixels sqare pictures? Will I get an RFE or will they print it just fine?. I know I could print the pictures myself and then scan them, but that seems like extra steps we shouldn't have to take...

I also just remembered that my husband found somewhere on the government website a "tip" that the 2x2 picture is actually 600x600 pixels (that would suggest DPI of 300), but I can't find that page anymore.

 

I feel like this should not be this hard...

Thank you, any help will be appreciated (I just dont wanna get an RFE because of something silly like that)

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/photos.html

 

This is from the USCIS website that my husband used. 

 

Take a photo then use the photo tool to crop. All done. I took a photo of him and he used this tool. 

 

Best thing, it's free🙂 

 

[Saqib-s 188]

don't overthink it too much, use the official tool in the post above from Tedsgirl or any of the others online, I personally used the following service:
https://makepassportphoto.com/en/p/photo-for-united-states-passport?plan=free

 

Really easy and no problems. 

[ND9811 1]

In my case (Received in April) I went to a place that prints passport photos and then scanned the physical photos. The instructions say to "write" specific information on the back of the photos, and so I could not see how that is possible without having an actual physical photo. I hope I did not do it wrong. 

 

I took several photos of the photos front and back and uploaded photos of the photos as well as a scanned image that makes the photo look like the original and not a photo of the photo.