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DIY Indian Passport Photo & Signature Upload Process

1. Take a passport photo at home:
   • Use a phone/camera with flash.
   • Stand about 2 meters away.
   • Take the photo in landscape (horizontal) mode to reduce visible flash shadows.
   • Use a plain or brick background outdoors, ideally just after sunset for softer lighting.
2. Remove the background:
   • Upload the photo to Adobe Express (free)
   • Remove the background and set it to pure white.
3. Create the passport-size sheet:
   • Go to IDPhoto4You (free)
   • Select:
     • Country: India
     • Photo size: 3.5 × 4.5 cm
     • Print size: 4 × 6 inch (10 × 15 cm)
   • Keep the face coverage around 80–85%.
   • Avoid changing brightness or contrast.
4. Print the photos:
   • Print the 4x6 sheet at CVS Health or Walgreens for inexpensive instant prints.
5. Prepare digital upload file:
   • Open the image (IDPhoto4You file you printed) in Microsoft Paint or For folks on Macbooks use Canva
   • Crop a single photo (3.5 × 4.5 cm)
   • Resize using Pixels:
     • Width: 630 px
     • Height: 810 px
   • Save as JPG with a simple filename (letters only—avoid spaces, numbers, or special characters if the portal is picky).
   • Final file size should typically stay under 250 KB.
6. Prepare signature file:
   • Take a clear picture/scan of your signature.
   • Open it in Microsoft Paint
   • Crop and fit it into a 1 × 3 inch box.
   • Save as JPG.

Additional printing tip for the passport application: Print on either US Letter or A4 paper, and set the top and bottom margins to 0.25 inch. This ensures the signature box on page 4 prints fully and doesn’t get cut off.

This is commonly used for Passport Seva online uploads, but always double-check the latest photo/signature specifications on the official portal before submission.