How to Print Passport Photos on a 4×6 at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart or Costco

To print your own passport photos cheaply, put six 2×2 inch photos on a single 4×6 inch image, upload it to the Walgreens, CVS, Walmart or Costco photo service as a regular 4×6 print, and switch off any cropping, borders or "fit" options. A standard 4×6 print typically costs well under $1, compared with paying for an in-store passport photo service. Once it is printed, check the size with a ruler and cut out the one photo you need.

Can you print your own passport photo at Walgreens or CVS?

Yes. For a US passport, the U.S. Department of State does not require a photo to come from a professional studio. What it requires is the result: a 2×2 inch color photo taken in the last 6 months, printed on matte or glossy photo-quality paper, with a plain white or off-white background, a neutral expression and both eyes open. It must not be blurry, grainy or pixelated, and it must not show visible printer dots. A regular 4×6 print from a retail photo lab is real photo paper, so it can meet those rules as long as the image itself is correct and the size is exact.

The difference between ordering a passport photo service and ordering a 4×6 print is who does the cropping and measuring. With a 4×6 print, the lab prints exactly what you send. That is why it is cheap, and also why the layout has to be right before you upload it.

How many 2×2 passport photos fit on a 4×6 print?

Six. A 4×6 inch print is two 2-inch columns wide and three 2-inch rows tall, so six 2×2 inch photos fill it edge to edge with no wasted space. At 300 DPI, the full sheet is 1200×1800 pixels and each photo is 600×600 pixels.

If you need a photo for another country, the count changes. A 35×45 mm photo (UK, Schengen, Australia) is smaller, so more fit on a sheet, but the layout needs small gaps so you can cut cleanly. Our 4×6 Print Sheet Maker handles both 2×2 inch and 35×45 mm layouts.

How do you print passport photos on a 4×6 step by step?

1. Take the photo: stand facing the camera in even light, in front of a plain white or off-white wall, with no shadows on your face or behind you. Have someone else take it from about 4 feet away rather than using a selfie.
2. Crop one 2×2 photo: make a square image where your head measures 1 to 1⅜ inches from chin to top of head, centered, at 600×600 pixels or more.
3. Build the 4×6 sheet: place the 2×2 image six times on a 1200×1800 pixel canvas (2 across, 3 down). You can do this in an image editor or in the free 4×6 Print Sheet Maker at /passport-photo-print-sheet, which runs in your browser.
4. Save as a JPEG at full quality, and keep the sheet in portrait orientation (4 wide by 6 tall) or landscape (6 wide by 4 tall) consistently.
5. Upload to the retailer's photo website or app (Walgreens, CVS, Walmart or Costco) and choose a standard 4×6 print, not a passport photo product.
6. Before checking out, look at the preview and turn off any automatic cropping, borders, or "fit to print" options so the image prints at its exact proportions.
7. Pick up the print, measure one photo with a ruler (it should be exactly 2 inches on each side), and cut it out with scissors or a paper trimmer along the edges.

Why does my passport photo print the wrong size?

Almost every DIY failure comes from the print being scaled, not from the photo itself. A 4×6 print has a 2:3 shape. If your file has a different shape, or the ordering tool decides to crop or pad it, the six photos shrink or stretch and none of them will measure 2×2 inches.

• Wrong canvas ratio: if the sheet is not exactly 2:3 (for example 1200×1800 px), the lab crops or adds white space and every photo ends up off-size.
• Auto-crop or "fill" settings: many photo ordering tools crop images to fill the paper by default. Check the preview and adjust so nothing is trimmed.
• Added borders: a white border option shrinks the image to make room, so a 2-inch photo can come out slightly smaller.
• Printing a single 2×2 image as a 4×6: uploading the square photo alone makes the lab enlarge it to fill the page. Always upload the full sheet.
• Home printer "fit to page": if you print at home instead, choose "actual size" or 100% scale, never "fit" or "shrink to fit".
• Low resolution: a small or heavily compressed source photo can look pixelated once printed, which the State Department says is a reason to reject a photo.

Should passport photos be glossy or matte?

For a US passport, either is fine. According to the U.S. Department of State, the photo can be printed on matte or glossy photo-quality paper. Matte shows fewer reflections and fingerprints, and is easier to handle when you staple or cut it. Glossy can look a little sharper. What matters more than the finish is that it is real photo paper: the Department of State says not to submit photocopies or digitally scanned photos, and a photo printed on regular office paper will not meet the photo-quality requirement.

Other countries can be stricter. GOV.UK, for example, says printed photos for a paper UK passport application must be on plain white photographic paper with no border and printed to a professional standard.

How many passport photos do you need for a US application?

One. The U.S. Department of State asks for 1 color photo with a paper application, whether you are applying in person with Form DS-11 or renewing by mail with Form DS-82. You do not need two identical photos for a US passport, even though many photo services hand you two. The extra five photos on your 4×6 sheet are spares in case one gets damaged or you need a photo for another document.

How you attach the photo depends on how you apply. When renewing by mail with Form DS-82, the State Department says to staple the photo to the form using four staples, placed vertically in the corners as close to the outer edges of the photo as possible. When applying in person, do not attach or staple the photo yourself; the acceptance agent reviews it and attaches it. If you renew online, you upload a digital photo instead and do not need a print at all.

Which is better: Walgreens, CVS, Walmart or Costco?

For printing your own sheet, the store matters less than the ordering tool. All four sell standard 4×6 prints through a website or app with store pickup at many locations. Pick the one closest to you, and before paying, look closely at the print preview: you want to see all six photos intact, with nothing cut off at the edges and no added border. Prices, pickup times and print options change often and vary by location, so check the retailer's own site rather than relying on a number you saw elsewhere.

If you would rather have the store take and size the photo for you, all of these chains have historically offered in-store passport photo services, but that is a separate, more expensive product than a plain 4×6 print. Store availability varies, so call ahead if you plan to use it.

What can still get a DIY passport photo rejected?

• Shadows on the face or on the background behind you.
• A background that is not plain white or off-white.
• Glasses: the State Department does not allow eyeglasses in passport photos except in rare medical cases with a signed doctor's statement.
• Filters, beauty modes or other edits that change your appearance.
• Head tilted, or not facing the camera directly.
• A photo that is damaged, creased, smudged or has holes, including staple holes from an earlier attempt.
• A photo taken more than 6 months ago.

Making the 4×6 sheet with Easy Photo Passport

If you already have a correctly cropped 2×2 photo, our free 4×6 Print Sheet Maker at /passport-photo-print-sheet lays out six copies on a 1200×1800 pixel sheet you can download and order as a normal print. If you are starting from a phone photo, our passport photo generator crops it to 2×2 with the correct head size and a white background, and shows you a free watermarked preview first; the finished photo is $2.99 if you want it. You can also run any photo through the free passport photo checker at /passport-photo-checker before you print. Whatever tool you use, measure the printed photo before you send it.