DIY Costco Passport Photo: A How-to Guide

Costco Passport Photos: A DIY Guide

Since the nationwide shuttering of Costco (in-person) photo centers, the chain’s photo printing services have been moved entirely online. Travellers and aspiring photographers can still get Costco’s quality prints; they just need to create a separate Photo Centre Account (which requires an active Costco membership). 

This separate account allows Costco’s customers to order prints (in various formats) for pick-up at one of the retailer's 29 UK warehouse locations or have them delivered to any address in the UK (for an additional fee). 

Unfortunately, Costco no longer offers passport photos on its online store. However, this does not mean you cannot get passport photos printed using Costco’s photo printing service. Keep reading to find out how you can get do-it-yourself (DIY) Costco passport photos by using Passport Photo Online with Costco’s world-famous Photo Centre printing service.

Costco passport photo no more–current photo printing services

Although passport photos are off the (official) menu of services at Costco Photo Centres, they still offer a variety of print sizes at some of the lowest prices in the country. Photo prints start at various price points, with standard 6” x 4” photos costing £0.07 per print (the price per unit is reduced to £0.05 if ordering quantities of 500 or more). Customers can also order the following sizes of prints:

• 5” x 5” (£0.12 each)
• 6” x 6” (£0.14 each)
• 7” x 5” (£0.09 each)
• 8” x 6” (£0.19 each)
• 8” x 8” (£0.87 each)
• 9” x 6” (£0.24 each)
• 10” x 8” (£0.89 each)
• 12” x 8” (£0.99 each)
• 12” x 12” (£1.89 each)
• 16” x 12” (£2.29 each)
• 18” x 12” (£2.29 each)
• 5” x 33” Panoramic print (£2.29 each)
• 8” x 20.5” Panoramic print (£2.29 each)
• 12” x 24” Panoramic print (£3.69 each)
• 12” x 36” Panoramic print (£6.59 each)

Additionally, the photo centre offers printing services in the following popular formats:

• Wall art (e.g., single panel canvas wrap) starts at £19.99.
• Photo books of various sizes (e.g., 8” x 6”; 20 pages) start at £14.99.
• Personalised cards and invitations (e.g., 5” x 7”; 25 cards) start at £9.99.
• Calendars start at £7.69.
• Posters (e.g., 16” x 24”; single image poster) start at £5.49.
• Collage prints (e.g., 8” x 12”; 9 photos) start at £2.29.
• Banners (e.g., a 36” x 12” birthday banner) start at £6.59.
• Personalised gifts (e.g., a 10” x 8” personalised mousemat) start at £3.49.

DIY Costco passport photos with Passport Photo Online

So you can’t get passport photos done at Costco anymore? Not quite. While commercial passport services and digital passport photo templates are no longer available online and in-store, there is still a workaround that savvy customers can use to get cheap passport photos at Costco. Follow the step-by-step guide below to get DIY Costco passport photos for a fraction of the cost charged by commercial passport photo services:

Step #1 Download Passport Photo Online onto your smartphone

Visit Passport Photo Online, download the application onto your iOS or Android device, and install the application.

Step #2 Snap the perfect passport photo

Use the app to snap the perfect passport photo of yourself and/or family members. The app has a selfie function and regular shooting mode so that you can always get a UK government-compliant passport photo. 

Step #3 Export your passport photos onto 6” x 4” templates

Once you have selected the photo(s) you would like to use for your passport(s), our smart AI will touch them up to make sure they comply with UK government regulations (e.g., the background is correct, the head direction is appropriate, etc.). The application will then export the passport photos onto a 6” by 4” template (for the low price of £6.95) that can then be printed using Costco’s online photo service.

Step #4 Print your passport photos with Costco’s online photo centre

Visit the Costco photo centre website and follow the instructions to print your passport photos. Pick up your passport photos for free at one of 29 warehouse locations in the UK or pay for home delivery service for an additional fee of £2.40 (for 1 to 99 prints).

DIY Costco passport photo guide–final thoughts

Costco members around the world have been collectively mourning the loss of the chain’s passport photo service. With the movement of all photo services online, there now exists the possibility to prepare digital copies of passport photos using third-party applications and print them out using Costco’s online photo centre.

One such application is Passport Photo Online. For the low price of £6.95, the application will prepare 2 (two) UK government-compliant passport photos on a standard 6” x 4” template that can then be printed using Costco’s online photo centre for £0.07 per print. Need 4 (four) passport photos? That’s only an additional £0.14 on top of the base price of £6.95.

Finally, the cheapest option for quality passport photos for individuals without valid Costco memberships would be to use Passport Photo Online exclusively, as 100% compliant passport photos are £6.95 for 2 (two) passport photos with delivery anywhere in the UK for £3.00.