Schengen Visa Photo: 35x45 mm, Made Free
A Schengen visa photo follows the ICAO standard: 35 x 45 mm, the face filling 70 to 80% of the height, which works out to 32 to 36 mm, on a plain light background. German consulates in particular prefer light grey over white. This tool frames your photo to those numbers, swaps in a light grey background, and outputs both the digital file and a printable 4 x 6 sheet, since most consulates still want physical prints with the application. Free, and your photo stays on your device.
The first run loads the AI model into your browser, a one-time download of about 209 MB, and stashes it away like an acorn. One-time setup: every later visit starts instantly.
How to use it
Drop in a front-facing photo
Stand facing the camera against any background, with your head and shoulders in frame and some space above your hair. A phone photo taken by someone else, at eye level, in daylight, is ideal. The photo is processed on your device and never uploaded.
The layout is measured, not guessed
The tool finds your eyes and chin, estimates the top of your hair, swaps the background for the required colour, and scales and crops so the head size and position land inside the official ranges. A checklist shows each measurement and whether it passes.
Download the photo or a print sheet
You get the single digital photo at the required pixel size, and a 4 x 6 inch sheet with several copies and cut guides, which any photo kiosk or drugstore prints for well under a dollar. That is the part photo booths charge fifteen dollars for.
How this runs without a server
Every other tool in this category works the same way: you upload your image, a GPU in a data centre somewhere runs the model, and the result comes back. That architecture is why they all have credits, watermarks and sign-up walls. Someone has to pay for that GPU, and it is metered by the second.
This page does it differently. When you drop in an image, your browser loads the AI model itself and runs it locally. If your browser supports WebGPU, the model runs on your own graphics hardware, which is typically five to sixty times faster than the CPU fallback. If it does not, we fall back to WebAssembly, which is slower but works everywhere.
Two things follow from that, and they are the entire reason this site exists. First, your photo never goes anywhere: it is read into a canvas in your tab and stays in your device's memory until you close it. There is no upload endpoint on this domain to send it to. Second, our cost per image is zero, so the free tier is not a loss-leader with a trapdoor in it. It is just what the thing costs to run, which is nothing.
The model file is cached by your browser after the first download. That is the one wait you have to sit through, and it only happens once per browser. After that the tool works with your network disconnected, which is a decent way to prove to yourself that nothing is being sent.
Checking that for yourself
You do not have to take our word for it, and you should not. Open your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab, and use the tool. You will see the model coming down. You will not see your image going up, because it never does. Then turn your wifi off: once the model is loaded, the tool keeps working with no network at all, which is not something we could fake. We walk you through both checks here.
Your photo stays on your device.
Not "deleted after 24 hours". Not "encrypted in transit". Never sent. Here is how we prove it.
The Schengen requirements at a glance
| Photo size | 35 x 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height (chin to crown) | 32 to 36 mm |
| Background | Plain light grey or off-white |
| Digital size | 827 x 1063 pixels (what this tool outputs) |
| Print resolution | 300 DPI |
The ICAO 35x45 mm standard: face height 32 to 36 mm. Some consulates prefer light grey backgrounds over white.
Frequently asked questions
Which countries does a Schengen photo cover?
The 35 x 45 mm ICAO format is accepted for visa applications across the Schengen area: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the rest. One caution: national PASSPORT rules inside the EU differ from visa rules, the Netherlands for instance wants a 26 to 30 mm head for its own passports, so use this page for visas and the country pages for passports.
White or grey background for Schengen?
The standard says plain and light. White, off-white and light grey all appear in official guidance, but German missions explicitly prefer light grey because pure white can wash out the face outline for automated checks. This tool uses light grey for the Schengen format, which no consulate objects to.
How many printed photos do I need?
Typically two identical, recent photos per application, glued or clipped where the form says. The 4 x 6 sheet this tool produces holds six at cutting size, so one cheap drugstore print covers the application with spares.
Is my photo uploaded to make this?
No. Both models involved, the one that removes the background and the one that finds your facial features, are downloaded into your browser and run there. For a photo of your face destined for an official document, that is not a small point: nothing about your face ever reaches us or anyone else.
Will my photo definitely be accepted?
No tool can promise that, and you should distrust any that does. This produces a photo with the correct dimensions, head size, eye position and background, which covers the reasons photos usually bounce. Acceptance is still the issuing authority's call, and rules like expression, glasses and head coverings are yours to meet when the photo is taken.