How To Make Passport Photos For Less Than 50 Cents
Passport photos are used for a variety of reasons. I have needed passport photos for my (renewal) passport application (of course), VISA applications, International Drivers licenses etc.
Passport photos can start to become expensive when you have to go to your local pharmacy and have them take your picture. Here at my local CVS, they charge $14.99 for passport photos! Whoa! Imagine if you were a family of 5, that definitely adds up.
I am going to show you how to make 4 passport photos for less than 50 cents.
Step 1: Photo on white background
Your going to need a photo with a white background. The easy way to do this is to simply have a family member or friend take a picture of you on a white wall. All of your walls painted? No worries, you can achieve this easily by going to the dollar tree and purchasing a white styrofoam board or poster board. This will make your fee for 6 passport photos a dollar more. But still cheaper than $14.99. Remember that your picture must meet the following qualifications:
- Your head must face the camera directly with full face in view.
- You must have a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, with both eyes open.
- Taken in clothing normally worn on a daily basis.
- Taken in the last 6 months.
- Use a plain white or off-white background.
- Be sized correctly.
I have an iPhone and used the free app Biometric Passport Photos just because it provides a template of where the top of your head and chin should line up for the perfect photo.
Step 2: Size your photo correctly
There are alot of apps that you can use for passport photos. However, I noticed that once you got past the picture taking point and wanted to print them there was some sort of upsell. I saw one that wanted $1.99 to give you color photos because the free version only gave you black and white. I saw one that would only print one picture. I need at least 3 because I am renewing my passport and i’m getting my international drivers license.
So, after I took the picture using my phone app, I save the photo. Then I end up using idphoto4you.com. Its a truly free website that lets you upload your saved photo for perfect printing. You simply upload the picture that you took in step 1 and go through a few steps to optimize your picture for printing. Once your happy with the image and ready to print, it will produce 4 images of that picture for you so you can print it on a 4×6 photo.
Step 3: Print your photos
So you’ve gotten your photo all perfect and now its ready to print. I printed mine by using CVS. I did the online version. I just uploaded my photo and requested a 4×6 print. My total fee for print in one hour…..drumroll…. 33 cents… for 4 passport size photos. Can’t beat it.
You can also print in store.
Step 4: Get your photos
Pick up your photos and use them for whatever you need them for.
So there you have it, 4 passport photos for less than 50 cents. And since you’ve saved over $14 by doing it yourself, treat yourself to a beautiful $10 passport cover.
Have you ever DIY’ed your passport photos? Why or why not? let me know in the comments.
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