How to Make a 1-Inch ID Photo in Photoshop

Making a 1-inch ID photo at home starts with getting the standard right: 25 × 35 mm at 300 dpi. This guide runs from those settings through swapping the background and cropping, then tiles the copies onto 5-inch paper for printing. Change the background in Online PS and skip another trip to the photo studio.

1. What you need

• Original photo: facing the camera, features straight, no exaggerated expression (a phone or digital camera is fine)
• Photoshop (or Online PS)
• Solid-colour background (white, light blue, red and so on — optional)

2. Standard ID photo specs

3. Step by step

1. Open the original photo
   File → Open (or drag the file straight in)
2. Crop to the standard size
   • Choose the Crop tool (C)
   • In the options bar enter width 295 px, height 413 px and resolution 300 ppi
   • Drag out the crop around the person, keep the face centred and leave some room above and below (about 8–10 mm above the head)
   • Press Enter to apply the crop
3. Replace or clean up the background (optional)
   • Select the person with the Quick Selection tool (W)
   • Select → Inverse (or Shift+Ctrl+I) to select the background
   • Press Delete to remove the background; a transparent area appears
   • Add a new layer and fill it with the colour you need (white/blue/red) using the Paint Bucket tool (G)
   • Drag the colour layer below the person layer
4. Light retouching (optional)
   • Clean up the outline with the Smudge tool (R)
   • Remove small blemishes with the Spot Healing Brush (J)
   • Use Curves, Levels and Brightness/Contrast to even out the light so the face looks natural and clear
5. Save as JPEG
   • File → Export As → JPEG (or File → Save As → JPEG)
   • Choose maximum quality
   • Tick the option to embed an ICC profile if you need one
   • Suggested file name: 1inch_IDphoto.jpg

4. Lay out a batch (for printing)

1. Create a new canvas (A4 or 6-inch paper, for example)
   File → New → width 1800 px, height 1200 px, resolution 300 dpi
2. Drag in the finished 1-inch photo and duplicate it with the Move tool (V) to build the grid
3. Leave gaps: keep 3–5 mm between copies so they are easy to trim apart later
4. When the sheet is full, export it as JPEG or PDF and send it to print

5. Other things to check

• Both ears must be visible; avoid bulky jewellery
• The face must be clear and unobstructed; keep clothing simple and avoid colours close to the background
• Before submitting, check the official size and colour requirements so the photo is not rejected

6. Summary

Master the size settings above and a few basic Photoshop tools and you can produce a compliant 1-inch ID photo at home — faster, cheaper and easy to adjust.

References

• Adobe Photoshop official documentation
• HTML5 and the principles of modern front-end image processing
• Online PS