An illustration with sample files; your own files show their own results.
Before3 photos a portal would reject
Off-centre in the frame
Head far too small
Tilted, shadow behind
AfterThe same photos, ready to upload
US 2×2 in · 300 DPI
Schengen 35×45 mm
Straight and evenly lit
Schengen Visa Photo Checker: ICAO 9303 and 35 × 45 mm
Schengen visa photos follow the ICAO 9303 standard: a 35 × 45 mm portrait with the head about 32 to 36 mm tall, the face centred, and a plain, light, evenly lit background with no patterns or shadows.
The checker above checks those rules on your photo, shows which pass, and crops it to 827 × 1063 pixels with 600 DPI written into the JPEG. It reads published geometry rules; it is not the consulate, whose reviewer has the final say, and it does not alter faces or backgrounds, so a failed lighting or background rule needs a reshoot. Some portals set their own limits, so check yours.
Checks a portrait against US DS-160 (2×2 in) and Schengen / ICAO 9303 (35×45 mm) rules — head size, pose, background and lighting — then auto-crops it to a print-ready JPEG at the right DPI. Everything is measured in your browser; the photo never leaves your device.
What it measures
Geometry: head height, eye line and centring against the standard’s allowed bands.
Head pose: roll, yaw and pitch from a weak-perspective POS solver; roll is also read from the eye line.
Background: colour uniformity (CIE76 ΔE*ab), brightness, patterns and cast shadows.
Lighting: left/right symmetry (SSIM) and specular hotspots.
Expression: eyes open and neutral mouth, measured from the face mesh and estimated when it is unavailable.
Face finder and limits
The face is found by Google’s MediaPipe Face Landmarker, run entirely in your browser. Its model (about 4 MB) and runtime load from this site once and are then cached; your photo is never sent anywhere, and the model only places points, it identifies no one. It also gives the eye and mouth ratios for the expression checks. Drag any point to fine-tune it. If the model can’t run on your device, you place the points by hand and the expression checks are advisory. This is a pre-submission check; the issuing authority makes the final decision.
Frequently asked questions
What size is a Schengen visa photo?
35 × 45 mm, in portrait orientation. At 600 DPI that is 827 × 1063 pixels, which is what this tool exports. Portals commonly accept lower resolutions, down to roughly 413 × 531 pixels, so check the one you are applying through.
How big should the head be in a Schengen photo?
The ICAO 9303 guidance is a head, crown to chin, of 32 to 36 mm in the 45 mm frame, which is about 70 to 80 percent of the height. The checker measures your photo against that band and reports where it falls.
Which background colours are allowed for a Schengen photo?
A plain, uniform, light background, with white, light grey or light blue as the usual examples and no pattern, objects or visible shadow. The checker measures how uniform and how light your background is. It is a little more permissive than the white-background rule for US visa photos.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere to be checked?
No. The whole check runs in your browser and the file is never uploaded. Previewing and checking need no account; an account is needed only to spend tokens when you download the result.
