How to Make a White Background for a Passport Photo at Home

The background rule for a U.S. passport photo is short: white or off-white, free of shadows, and plain, with no texture, objects or lines. Getting there at home is mostly about choosing the right surface and placing yourself correctly in front of it. This guide covers what to use, how far to stand, and what to do if every wall in your home is painted a color.

What counts as an acceptable background

From the State Department's photo requirements:

• The background must be white or off-white.
• It must be free of shadows.
• It must be plain, without texture, objects or lines.
• Its tip for a non-white wall: use a white blanket or sheet to cover it.
• Position yourself several feet away from the wall.

The State Department's photo examples show a blue background, a textured wall with lines and a wall with a thick gray stripe as unacceptable. Off-white is fine, so a slightly warm or cream wall usually works as long as it looks white in the photo and has no shadows.

Your options at home

Using a wall or door

A plain painted wall is the simplest option. Choose a section with nothing on it, at least wide enough to fill the frame behind your head and shoulders with some margin. Check for:

• Texture. Hold your phone flashlight close to the wall at a low angle. If you see deep bumps or swirls, the camera may pick them up; a sheet or board is safer.
• Lines. Corners, baseboards, door frames and outlets are lines and objects. Keep them out of the frame.
• Color. Bright white or off-white only. Pale gray, beige or light blue can read as a colored background on camera.

A white slab door works the same way. Paneled doors have grooves that show up as lines, so avoid shooting with the panels behind your head.

Using a sheet, blanket or board

If your walls are colored, follow the State Department's own tip and cover the wall with a white sheet or blanket.

1. Use the plainest, smoothest white fabric you own. Iron or steam out the folds; fold lines become lines in the photo.
2. Pull it tight and fix it flat at the top and sides with painter's tape, clips or pushpins. Tension removes wrinkles better than ironing alone.
3. If the wall color shows through, double the sheet or use a thicker blanket.
4. Make sure the fabric extends well past your shoulders on both sides and above your head, so no edge appears in the frame.

Matte white foam board from a craft or office supply store is another good option: it is flat, opaque and stays put leaned against a chair or taped to a wall. Use a large sheet and keep its edges out of frame.

• CorrectCentred, neutral, even light

• Coloured backgroundUse the required plain colour

• Busy backgroundUse a plain, light wall

How far to stand from the background

Stand several feet in front of the background, not against it. The State Department says this in both its general photo rules and its online renewal page, and it is the single most effective fix for shadows behind your head. When you stand against the wall, any light from the front throws your shadow directly behind you. Step forward and the shadow drops to the floor, out of the frame.

A practical layout for a typical room:

• Wall or sheet
• Several feet of space
• You, facing the camera
• About 4 feet (1.2 m) of space
• Camera at your eye level

If the room is too small for both distances, prioritize the camera distance and step as far from the wall as you can, then use extra light on the background.

Lighting the background evenly

A white wall only looks white in a photo when it is well lit. If it is darker than your face, the camera will render it gray. Fixes, in order:

1. Shoot in bright daylight with the window in front of you, so light reaches the wall too.
2. Step farther from the wall so your shadow is not on it.
3. Add a lamp aimed at the wall from behind or beside you, out of the frame, to brighten it evenly.
4. Remove anything colored right next to the background that could reflect a tint onto it.

Our home lighting guide has full setups, and shadows in passport photos covers stubborn shadow problems.

Why you should not swap the background in an app

It is tempting to shoot anywhere and replace the background with a white one using an app. The State Department's examples specifically show a background cropped out with a retouching tool, changing the outline of the head, face and neck, as unacceptable. It also shows an original photo with a non-white background as unacceptable and says the fix is to correct your lighting and background and take a new photo, not to enhance or change it with software. It says it checks photos for digital changes. Read more in can you edit a passport photo.

If you are not sure whether your background is white enough, run the photo through the free passport photo checker before you submit, and see the complete home passport photo guide for the rest of the setup.

Test your background before the real shot

Take one quick test photo before you start posing. Look at it on the phone at full size and check three things. First, the corners of the frame: is anything there besides plain white, such as a light switch, a strip of colored wall or the edge of the sheet? Second, the area right behind your head and shoulders: do you see a soft gray halo? That is your shadow, and the fix is to step forward. Third, the overall tone: if the white looks gray, yellow or blue next to a real sheet of printer paper held up in the frame, the light needs adjusting. A thirty-second test saves a whole session of unusable photos.

Special case: wheelchairs

If you use a wheelchair, the State Department says it is fine if part of the head support shows in the photo. Include a note with your application explaining that the background is not completely white because you are in a wheelchair.