2x2 Photo Online: Size, Pixels and Print Sheets

A 2x2 photo is square: 2 inches wide and 2 inches tall. In print that is 50.8 mm, usually rounded to 51 mm. In pixels it depends on resolution: 600 x 600 at 300 DPI, the standard for photo printing.

The head and eye positions come from the U.S. passport and visa rules (8 FAM 402.1 and 9 FAM 303.6). You may see '22 mm to 35 mm' quoted for head height on some versions of the State Department page, but 1 inch is 25.4 mm, so follow the inch values: 1 to 1 3/8 inches.

Most U.S. government documents use a 2x2 photo, but the details vary. Some want a print, some want a file, and a few measure the head differently.

• ATF Form 4 asks for about 1 1/4 inches from top of head to chin and allows a photo up to 1 year old.
• USCIS measures the head from the top of the hair and wants two identical prints on thin glossy paper.
• The DV lottery wants a digital file of exactly 600 x 600 pixels.
• India visa applications use a 51 x 51 mm photo, the same as 2x2.

Some common documents do not use 2x2 at all. Schengen visas and UK passports use 35 x 45 mm photos, and Chinese visas use 33 x 48 mm. Canadian passports use 50 x 70 mm and must come from a commercial photographer, so we do not sell those.

The cheapest way to print 2x2 photos is a standard 4x6 print. A 4x6 sheet at 300 DPI is 1200 x 1800 pixels, and 2x2 photos tile it exactly: two across and three down.

That exact fit only works borderless, with no gaps between photos. Once you add cut guides or white gaps, only two 2x2 photos fit. PhotoForPass gives you the sheet as a JPG and a PDF.

Tips for CVS, Walgreens and Walmart

• Order a regular 4x6 print, not a passport photo service.
• Turn off any 'crop to fit' or 'fill' option so the sheet prints at 100%.
• Choose glossy for USCIS forms; matte or glossy works for U.S. passports.
• Measure one photo with a ruler before you cut. It should be exactly 2 inches wide.

Our print guide walks through home printers and each store's upload flow.

You can make a 2x2 photo yourself with any image editor that crops to a square. It is doable, but the hard parts are getting the head size right, making the background evenly white and laying out a print sheet that prints at the correct size.

If you want to try the do-it-yourself route, crop to a square, resize to 600 x 600 pixels, and test the result in our free passport photo checker. If you would rather skip the measuring, PhotoForPass does it for you.

PhotoForPass is a 2x2 photo editor built around the official rules. You choose the document, and the size, head position and file limits follow that document.

Before you pay, the smart check runs in your browser: face size, centering, tilt, open eyes, closed mouth, lighting, shadows, blur and background. Your photo stays on your device until then. After payment, we fix the lighting, replace the background with plain white, and size and crop the photo to 2x2. The finished file arrives in 30 to 60 seconds, and faces are never retouched.

The Digital photo costs $16.95. Photo + print sheet costs $18.95 and adds the 4x6 sheet. Family packs cover 2 people for $29.95 or 3 people for $39.95. Every order includes up to 5 photo checks and 3 free redos per person, a 14-day money-back guarantee with no questions asked, and a full refund if the agency rejects the photo. Final acceptance is up to the issuing agency.