Nowadays, there is no need to go to the photo studio or buy a professional equipment to take a photo for documents. You can take it with an ordinary smartphone. Of course, an SLR camera and additional lightning at hand would be helpful, but access to the smartphone is sufficient for this. The main requirement is the camera's resolution of at least 8MP to get high-quality pictures.
Requirements for the background and lightning
- The more homogenous the background will be, the better. For instance, you can place your camera near the wall or the stretched cloth. If you don’t have such an opportunity, don’t get upset: modern photo editing services such as Remove.bg or BgRem can remove the background even from pictures with heterogenous bg.
- The lighting shouldn’t distort the complexion or create contrasting shadows on the face. You can use your desk lamp, concentrated light scattered by reflecting off a sheet of paper, or use natural lighting from the window directed by a mirror. If the lighting is still insufficient, take advantage of your camera flash.
- Don’t stand too close to the background objects and place the camera about one or two meters away.
- The camera lens should be at the same level with your face. Use the tripod, in case you have the one at home, or find the surface to install your smartphone. It makes it easier in case you have a friend to help
- While shooting, you should look straight ahead and concentrate your vision on the camera. Keep hair off your face and make a neutral facial expression.
- Don’t forget that wearing hats, sunglasses, and attention-grabbing pieces of jewelry is not permissible while shooting for the documents. Take notice that your clothes shouldn’t merge with the background.
Photo editing
After you have taken the pictures, you need to edit them. Remember that extra retouching of such photos is not allowed! You can remove cosmetic defects if they are temporary — for example, you can "photoshop" a pimple, but if you have a scar or a mole on your face, you shouldn’t retouch them.
After that, you should crop your photo. Depending on the type of document for which it is made, the requirements may be different, so it is essential to know a few nuances. The standard official photo is 30*40mm, but you should check the requirements if you create a photo for a specific document. Also, pay attention to the area that the face should occupy, the distance to the top of the head, and whether the photo should be colored or black-and-white, with or without a corner, on matte or glossy paper.
After you crop your photo, you should remove the background. For that purpose, you can use the BgRem website or application.
How to remove background in BgRem
Click “Upload file” and choose the photo from your device:
Choose white color as a background:
Click “Edit” to resize the object on the picture:
Make the object on the photo smaller or bigger by moving the slider:
Choose “Continue” to start the processing:
Click “Download” to save the result:
And finally, you get the perfect photo for the documents:
Photo printing
After you have taken and edited photos, you should print them. Choose matte paper and set the best print quality — at least 300, preferably 600 or more pixels per inch, if the printer allows it. If you don't have a color printer, take them to the photo studio.