When you decide to travel abroad, a passport is what you must have. Either by creating a new one or renewing it, you’ll have to provide a passport photo, and it should meet the U.S. Department of State requirements. If there’s an issue with your passport photo, it may be rejected, which results in delays with your passport application or renewal.
It’s no wonder, since taking your own passport photo could be complicated. But today, you can take advantage of passport photo centers that you can find at some service facilities or even retail stores – Target is one of them. But, can you really take your passport photo at Target?
Okay, let’s discover the real and latest update about Target Photo Center!
Can You Take Your Passport Photo at Target?
Taking a passport photo at Target has initially been a popular and cost-effective option for many people in the past, but now you cannot do it at all. Why?
The Target Photo Center service has currently been discontinued, so you can no longer take passport photos in person at any Target stores. If you go to your local Target to take your own passport photo and then print it, you cannot do it at all since Kodak photo printing and processing machines have been unavailable at Target since 2022.
Instead of providing kiosks to take photos at their stores, Target is now switching their passport photo service online by using a third party called Ezprints. Even though the service’s name has changed, the photo service provided remains in line with Target.
Ezprints – Target’s Online Passport Photo Service: What It Is and How It Works
Ezprints is a website that offers a wide range of photo and printing services. Here, you can upload your digital photo, and Ezprints can convert it into your passport photo according to government guidelines.
In addition to creating your passport photo, you can also print it in a variety of sizes and finishes, such as square, panoramic, college, metal, and canvas prints. Furthermore, you can make custom photo books, ornaments, mugs, and more with your own photos and text.
With their extensive expertise and advanced features on offer, Ezprints has collaborated with some companies to continue providing photo-taking services that might be discontinued, including Target Photo Center service.
Through Ezprints’ services, anyone can take advantage of their wide selection of personalized products, resulting in amazing printouts. What you should do is simply choose your product with various applicable options such as size, orientation, and finish.
The good news: Ezprints photo printing software and services are free and easy to use.
How to Take Your Passport Photo Using Ezprints
It’s pretty straightforward to turn your normal photo into your passport photo via Ezprints, Target’s passport photo service’s third party.
What you can do is just upload your photo, adjust it to your needs, and finally add it to your cart to start ordering. Once again, you use the Ezprints software for free, but you will be charged for the results.
Let’s start!
Access Ezprints here. https://www.ezprints.com
Once you’re at the homepage, you can see a wide range of options for your photos. Since you want to create a photo for your passport, you can select “Prints & Panos.” From the drop-down menu, you can click “Passport Photos.”
On the Passport Photos page, you can click “Shop Now.”
On the following page, you need to read the terms and guidelines. Here, you can also see the price of your passport photo. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a discount.
If you already understand, you can continue to proceed by clicking “Get Started.”
Then, start uploading your photo, which fits for making a passport photo from your device, and it usually requires a formal photo.
After placing your photo in the editor tool, you can also customize its size by swiping the available dot to the one you want.
Before checking it out, you can also preview it first by clicking the eye icon on the top right corner of the screen to see if your photo doesn’t fit for your passport.
If all is perfect, you can then click “Add to Cart” to make a purchase.
On the following page, you must read your order description and check if there’s anything incorrect.
If you’re sure, you can continue to “Proceed to Checkout.”
The next page requires you to fill out shipping information such as your full name, your address, your zip code, your email, and your phone number.
Make sure to select a fast and affordable shipping agency as your shipping option.
After checking your own order summary, you can then make a payment. You can use a credit card, and Ezprints allows Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
Now, you can only follow on-screen instructions until your purchase is successful.
After your order has been submitted, you can only wait for your passport photo, and its estimated delivery may take up to two weeks or more, depending on the shipping agency you select.
If your passport photo is ready, Ezprints will send four identical copies directly to you. One order consists of identical 2” x 2” photos on a 5” x 7” sheet. After your photo order is accepted, you’ll have to crop the photo to meet government guidelines.
The photos you order at Ezprints are official and can be used for your government-issued passport photos, so you can travel safely. Now, you can start taking your passport photo via Ezprints. Good Luck!!!
How Much Does Ezprints’ Passport Photo Cost?
You may pay for your passport photo order that you create via Ezprints for $9.99—it’s the normal price. When checking it out, they usually offer a discount of a certain percentage.
Reportedly, many have gained nearly 50% off where they only paid $4.00. So, you can only know whether or not Ezprints offers a discount when you checkout with your order.
Note: The price mentioned does not include delivery fees. Since you can no longer directly take passport photos at Target, you’ll be charged shipping fees as follows:
- $49.84 – 2 – 3 days
- $36.08 – less than 7 days
- $23.59 – 7 days
- $12.64 – 10 days
Alternative Tip:
If you want to save money, you can use PhotoAiD, which offers you automatic passport photo editing, printing, and 2-3 days shipping for $16.95, including a money-back guarantee.
Access PhotoAiD here: https://photoaid.com
PhotoAiD can also automatically edit your passport photos according to official requirements without wasting your time preparing various personalizations. Just by preparing a 4×6″ passport photo template, you can get two images printed for $0.39.
U.S. passport photo requirements
There are strict requirements determined by the U.S. Department of State that you have to meet to provide passport photos. To avoid rejection, you must learn the following passport photo specifications:
- It must be in color.
- It should have been taken within the past six months.
- It should display a clear image of your face in full lighting.
- The background of your photo must be solid white or off-white without lines or texture.
- The size of your passport photo must be 2” x 2” and your head should be 1-1⅜ inches in the frame.
- The orientation of your face and body should be centered, with a neutral expression.
Either submitting a physical photo or a digital photo for your passport, you must still adhere to the above specifications, with some differences regarding size and format.
It’s important to note that your digital passport photos should be in JPEG format, at least 600 x 600 pixels and 54 kilobytes.
To make it easier for you to get the appropriate size of your passport photo, you can take advantage of the Department of State’s online tool, which you can access at https://tsg.phototool.state.gov/photo. The tool will automatically crop digital passport photos to the correct size. So, make sure to leave enough room in your head for this feature.
What Makes Your Passport Photo Rejected?
Before submitting your passport photo, you should learn some common issues that can reject it. You may not take it seriously, but there are some things that might result in your passport photo being rejected.
Here they are:
- Your photo has been edited or contains a filter.
- Your photo is blurry, and/or it is underexposed or overexposed.
- Your eyes are red and closed.
- Your photo has shadows or other objects.
- Your face was not neutral – too close or too far.
- It doesn’t show your true skin tone.
- Your photo is damaged, smudged, or creased.
- Your body and face were not centered.
- There’s any object that obstructs your face, like glasses, your hair, or a hat.
- You wore clothes that resembled a uniform.
To find out more about a passport’s requirements and specifications, you can learn them at the official website of the U.S. Department of State, which you can access here.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
