You can print your own passport photos in top quality. However, caution is advised: Many government agencies no longer accept self-printed photos.
Printing Your Own Passport Photos: New Regulations Effective May 2025
You need a current passport photo for many official documents, such as your passport, a new ID card, or your driver’s license. With today’s technology, what could be more obvious than taking and printing the required photos yourself? But be careful: Since May 2025, many government agencies in Germany have only been accepting digital passport photos, especially for new applications.
- As a result, self-printed photos are often no longer accepted. So before you invest time and effort, you should definitely check with your local authority in advance to see if they still accept printed photos.
- This is because more and more city offices and passport agencies require a certified digital passport photo when you submit your application—one that can be uploaded directly into the administrative software. You can obtain this via modern passport photo kiosks, which you’ll find in many cities or sometimes even directly at the government office itself. In the end, you’ll receive a code or link that you can use when submitting your application online or directly at the office.
- You can also obtain such digital passport photos through online passport photo services that create photos specifically tailored to biometric requirements. You upload your photo; the service checks it both automatically and manually, optimizes it accordingly, and provides it to you along with digital certification.
- In both cases, you’ll receive a photo that meets the current requirements of the Federal Ministry of the Interior —and is also digitally accepted by the government agency.
Printing Passport Photos Yourself After All: Here’s What You Need
Printing passport photos yourself is therefore only useful to a limited extent. If your local authority still accepts printed passport photos, you can continue to produce them yourself under certain conditions. The following applies:
- The photo must meet the biometric requirements of the Federal Ministry of the Interior—these include, among other things, facial expression, lighting, contrast, head positioning, and a neutral background.
- These guidelines change regularly, particularly with regard to technical standards and security requirements. For guidance, refer exclusively to the official information page of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI).
- To ensure that the passport photo is accepted by authorities, it must also be of high quality.
For this, you’ll need a high-quality inkjet printer with a resolution of at least 300 dpi, ideally using good-quality photo paper, which is resistant to moisture such as hand sweat. - Alternatively, you should use a dye-sublimation printer, such as those used in photo labs or professional photo printing services. These deliver particularly consistent and long-lasting results.
- Many inexpensive home printers cannot achieve the required sharpness, color accuracy, and level of detail. The authorities can reject a poor-quality print at any time. Then you’ll have to go through the process all over again.
- To print, format, and optimize the photo to the correct size, we recommend the Passbild Generator software, which you can download for free from the CHIP download portal (see the next chapter).
Print a passport photo using the Passport Photo Generator
With the Passport Photo Generator, you can check and print your own passport photo as long as you have the best quality options available. Here’s how to proceed:
- Open your passport photo with the Passport Photo Generator.
- Now check that the photo meets all requirements using the tool’s passport photo templates. Pay special attention to the eye and nose areas, the chin line, and the top of the face. Position the image so that all requirements are met.
- Next, select “File” > “Print” and select the correct image size. Optionally, you can also print an entire page of passport photos at once.
- Now all you have to do is neatly cut out the printed passport photo. This works best with a cutting machine.
- Please note that you are not allowed to edit the printed passport photos.& nbsp;Also, laminating or coating the photo is strictly prohibited – even minimal changes to the surface, color, or contrast will usually result in the authorities rejecting your photo. You should submit the photo exactly as it comes out of the printer.
