Passport Template Instructions

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  • Passport Template Instructions

The purpose of this template is to simplify the creation of two 2×2 inch photos required for the U.S. passport application. When used correctly, photos processed with the template meet sizing requirements as denoted by the U.S Department of State. This template was designed to speed up the sizing process, and produces a document that can be printed professionally at a photo lab. Photos processed with this template have been accepted for use in U.S. passport applications.

This template was designed to work with the full version of Adobe Photoshop and has not been tested in Adobe Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom or any other image editing software.

Instructions

These instructions assume a basic familiarity with Adobe Photoshop. If you are new to using Photoshop, it would be best to start with watching our training video to get a better understanding of the workflow.

How to install the Actions
The Actions need to be installed before use of the template if you wish to export multiple photos.

  1. Extract the product zip file you file to your preferred location.

  2. Double click on "PassportPhotoAppCom – (country) – (version).atn"

  3. Your actions should now be installed. Visit the Photoshop actions panel and look for the folder "PassportPhotoApp.com | (Template Country). If this didn't work, please refer to the Photoshop help on how to install actions for you version of Photoshop.

How set add your branding to the template (optional)
This step is only if you want to add branding to your photos. Feel free to skip it, or return to it at any point.

  1. Open "PassportPhotoAppCom – (country) – (version).psd" in Photoshop.

  2. Double click on the thumbnail on layer "Add Your Logo Here" layer to open the Logo Smart Object.

  3. Add your logo to the Smart Object so that it fills the area provided as much as it can.

  4. Save and close the Smart Object to return to the template.

  5. "Save As" the template with a new file name so you remember that it is already setup with your branding.

  6. You are now ready to start creating branded output files.

How to use the template

  1. Open "PassportPhotoAppCom – (country) – (version).psd" in Photoshop.

  2. Open photo to be used as passport photo in Photoshop. To take a photo that meets background and composition requirements visit our support site for links to governmental regulations and guides for your specific country.

  3. Drag passport photo into the template and position layer directly above GreyBG in the layer group entitled "Place Photo in Here Above GreyBG."

  4. The first step is to size the head in the photo using the "Head Size Ruler." Using Free Transform (CTRL-T), resize the photo so that the head falls within the confines of the ruler.

  5. Horizontally center the photo using the vertical "Face Center Line" as a guide. If necessary, rotate your image. The "Face Center Line" guide should be equally dividing your face.

  6. Using the "Eye Zone" as a guide, vertically center the photo making sure that the eyes fall within the shaded area between the two outside lines.

  7. The photo is now ready for output. Now would be a good time to Save the photo as a new file if you wish. It would also be helpful to create a new history state to easily return to this point.

  8. Visit the actions panel. Select the output size you want and push the Play button to start the output creation.

  9. Save the resulting document. The options are up to you, but .JPG with a compression of at least 8 will work fine for most purposes. If you wish, you could also save the .PSD so you can make corrections at a later date if required.

  10. Print the resulting document on the paper size you choose at a photo lab. If you have a high quality photo printer you may be able to print them yourself, however restrictions on photo quality are tightening and you might have problems. Some countries require the photos be printed via a commercial printer.

  11. Cut the photos out.

Best Practices

  • After downloading the zip file, it's best to create a copy of the PSD that you will be using with your logo. Save it with a new name so you know which one is the original.
  • You can always download the latest version of the product from your account.

Photoshop CS6 & Windows Drag and Drop Issues

While not an issue with the template, specific versions of Photoshop on Windows do not allow you to drag files from Windows File Explorer into Photoshop. There are workarounds for this, the simplest is to first open your photo in Photoshop and then drag the Layer into the template. To do this put the photo and the template documents side by side, click and drag the photo Layer in the Layers Palette and drop it into the template document. From there you can move the layer into the correct folder.

To enable the ability to drag from Windows File Explorer to Photoshop you can also follow this YouTube tutorial (Not by PassportPhotoApp): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhNuNuXTgn4