As we grow up, we get a lot of additional responsibilities, and one of them is to change photos in your official documents when requested. Of course, having your passport photo taken at a special offline establishment is the easiest option. However, it may be troublesome to reach the desired destination in your overfilled working schedules and find the necessary funds in your budget for this adventure. So doing this at home on your own with the help of a functional passport photo app has already become a solid substation method.
What Is Your Kit?
Customers can prepare their own photos for their passport, visa, and other documents without applying to third-party agencies. In this case, it is a must-have task to take care of auxiliary tools. Here is a list of basic things you will use in the process:
-
Hardware — you don’t have to invest hundreds of dollars to purchase a fancy camera. A common camera on your smartphone will work as well. Of course, access to the computer to work with editing and printing operations is required as well.
-
Software — it would be a mistake to print the photo as it is in this case. Consumers will have to spend a few minutes editing the received shot with the help of graphics software functionality. One of the simplest in navigation and most affordable programs for this purpose is RetouchMe. A few button clicks are enough to adjust the image brightness, contrast, and more. Besides, you can use your old photos with the necessary portrait composition and change the background for a mono-color one.
Last but not least important, you can use a separate desktop publishing program from the one highlighted above to print the final results. If you don’t have a printer at home, you will have to switch from a common RGB to a CMYK color palette.
Editor’s Choice Recommendations
Once you have decided to take a passport photo without professional assistance, it is high time to get a deeper insight into the field requirements. You have seen the way such photos look, but you can check samples on the internet to understand which angles and perspectives are allowed. When it comes to camera placement, you will have to take the full-face shot, leaving extra space in the upper part of your hear and around your body contour. Position of the equipment at eye level is the best option. The camera should be 1.5-2 meters away from the face. The image should include the chest and shoulders, and the head and hair should fit into the frame.
It is customary for a document photo to be taken against a plain and monochrome background. The latter doesn’t have to be white only — it can be light blue, grey, cream, etc. In this case, don’t hesitate to check the requirements of a particular establishment or document for which the photo update is necessary.
Lighting should be natural. What does it mean? The tone of your skin has to seem like a no-edit one and close to reality, so it would be best to take your passport photo in well-light conditions during the daylight period. However, if that’s not possible for some reason, enthusiasts are to adjust the source of lighting in such a way as to prevent shadow occurrence on or under the face.
Retouching Process
Once images are uploaded on your computer, it is the right moment to open RetouchMe or similar passport photo applications that suit your liking. Don’t forget all the adjustments shouldn’t be non-natural and absolutely noticeable — slight tweaks are preferable. Apart from making the required size and file format of the image, you can work with the light resolution and smooth a skin tone a bit (for instance, it won’t be a problem to get rid of annoying pimples that appear just when you least need them).
Wrap It Up
The main thing is to remember that a business photo has to remain of the same type at the end of editing and publishing operations. It isn’t overly complicated to take a passport photo on your own — all you have to do is just to pay attention to details and choose the best shot.