Irish Driving Licence Photo

Irish driving licence photo

Irish driving licence is at the same time a European driving licence and authorises its holder to drive or operate motor vehicles on public roads of Ireland and European Union. for the reasons of security and drivers’ identity control, the photo in the document must meet EU and National Driver Licence Service Standards. How are they?

Read our Irish driver’s licence guide and become an expert in this matter. We assure you that producing an Irish driving licence photo at home is easy and maybe funny too, especially when you use our intelligent photo online tool!

Driving licence photo requirements in Ireland

During your first application for a driving licence, your photograph is always taken in an office. During subsequent licensing transactions, in the situation of renewal or ordering a duplicate, you are allowed to submit a new photograph that meets the requirements.

These requirements apply to:

• validity
• dimensions of the photo
• coloring and lights
• technical details
• a crop of the photo
• demanded facial expression
• composition and head’s position
• background requirements

Do you find this difficult? It is not when you have a helpful tool: Irish driving licence photo Maker online.

Guide on how to make an Irish driving licence photo at home

Prepare all you need before capturing the photo. You probably have a smartphone, tablet or a digital camera and this is perfect to begin. Then ask somebody to help as selfie is not acceptable or use a tripod if you prefer to take a photo on your own. Now you need only the list of the Irish driving licence photo requirements and the Irish Driver’s Licence Photo Generator that you can download from the Google Play Store or AppStore for your iPhone or a smartphone with Android.

This app will help you to properly resize, crop and adjust your picture and at the end, it verifies if the photo is correct from the point of view of National Driver Licence Service. Once you have it all, you are ready to capture and create a correct photo for your driving licence. Follow the next paragraphs to know exactly how to take a perfect picture by yourself.

Validity of the Irish driving licence photo

Your photo for any official document - such as passport, ID card or driving licence - must reflect your current appearance. That is why it must not be older than 6 months. So attach to your driving licence form only a photo taken within 6 months, otherwise, it will be not valid.

Size (dimensions) of an Irish driving licence photo

The width of the photograph dedicated to a driving licence in Ireland must be  35–38 mm and height between 45 mm and 50 mm. But do not worry about the size of your photo, check out the possibilities of the Irish driver's licence photo resizer app. You don’t even know the required dimensions, just pick up the template for an Irish driving licence document and have it done in one second. The App automatically resizes every photo, so you can focus on how to look good in it!

Coloring and lights in the Irish driver’s licence photo

Your picture for a driving licence must show your natural skin and eyes colors. That is why the color photo is required by the National Driver Licence Service.

When it comes to illumination, remember that your face must be symmetrically illuminated - your both cheeks must be visible, no shadows are accepted. A very important thing is also to adjust contrast and brightness during taking the picture.

The image must not be overlit or underlit. Use natural light - the good idea is to capture a picture staying frontally to the window. Flash lamp is not recommended, it can cause white glares on the skin or the “ red eyes” effect which is unacceptable too.

Technical specification of a driving licence photo in Ireland

For your second or next driver’s licence, you need to submit two printed photos. But don’t use a home inkjet printer as such devices are not able to produce high-quality pictures. You may send them or send the template to a one-hour photo store. Anyway, to be printed, your picture must meet certain technical requirements. It must be:

• properly exposed as mentioned above
• sharp and clear
• well focused
• in good resolution (min. 600 dpi)
• printed on photo-quality paper

A required crop of the Irish driving licence photo

The crop must show all your head with hair, the neck and upper part of your shoulders. Your head cannot be too big or too small - it must take 70-80 % of the image. The crown cannot “touch” the upper edge of the picture.  But you don’t even need to know all those details! Just find a template for a chosen document (eg. Irish Driving Licence Passport) and upload your picture. Wait one or two seconds when our program automatically resizes and crops the photo! And it’s done!

Demanded facial expression in an Irish driving permit photo

The specification for required facial expression calls it “a neutral” one. It means that your face muscles must be relaxed and you have to look straight at the camera lens with open eyes and closed mouths. Do not smile, tighten your mouths of frown. Any grimace in the photo will make it rejected. Why such requirements? It applies not only to Irish driving licence photos, a “neutral facial expression” id a rule for every biometric photo for every official document, especially for passports and ID cards worldwide.

Composition and the head’s position in an Irish driving licence photo

The photograph should show a full front view of your head, as you would normally appear. No side shots are accepted, it must be an en-face view. Your head must be centred in the crop and the camera lens must be positioned on the level of your eyes. Do not tilt your head in any direction, look straightly at the camera.

The background requirements in Ireland for the driver’s licence photo

The photo dedicated to an Irish driving licence must be taken against a plain white or light grey background. The background should be clear: no shadows, patterns, other people or objects must be visible in your visa photo.

But you do not need to worry about it. You can take a picture on any background, even in your apartment or garden and just use our driving licence photo background editor which changes a wrong background into the required one.

Head coverings in Irish driving licence photos

Do not wear any fashion headgear, for example, headbands, hats or caps while capturing a photo for an Irish driving permit. They are forbidden in the photo as well as massive hair decorations and big earrings which can obscure your face.

Only if a head covering is a part of your religious attire (like a yarmulke, hijab etc.) you may wear it in your driving licence photo in Ireland. Remember that the headgear cannot obscure your face (niqabs are prohibited). Your face with the forehead must be fully visible.

Glasses in the photo for the Irish driving licence

If you wear everyday glasses, take them off for the moment of capturing the picture dedicated to the Irish driving permit. Neither headphones and other items should not be worn. 

Piercing in Irish driving licence photos

Everyday jewellery and facial piercing are not prohibited in photos for an Irish driving licence. If you have a permanent facial piercing, you do not need to remove it but at the same time, it must not obscure your facial features. Remember also that piercing must not give glares on your skin. If you see that it does, repeat a photo shot without piercing.

Hairstyle and beard in a Belgian driving licence photo

There is no special rule about hairstyle for the Belgian driving licence photo. You may have your hair down or wear it up. Style your hair before. If you colour your hair, then book your visit to a stylist just before taking your photograph. 

Just do not forget to leave some space between the top of your head (with hair) and the upper edge of the image.

If you have a beard, but If your facial features are still recognizable, the beard is not a problem and you don’t need to shave it.

Clothing in a driver’s licence photo in Ireland

You are free to wear what you want for the moment of capturing a photo for an Irish driving permit photo. Our advice is to wear a shirt colour that complements your skin tone. To add brightness or conceal your neck, add a tie or a necklace. Do not wear a uniform. It is important to look good but also to feel good when you take your picture. Take a driving licence photo you can be proud of!

Makeup or retouch in an Irish driving licence photo?

Definitely makeup. Retouching and altering in any way your picture to official documents is forbidden. If you are worried about some blemish or you don’t want to look pale you may apply more heavy makeup than usual because sometimes eyes and lips can appear washed-out. 

What mistakes to avoid on a driving licence photo?

Every day the National Driver Licence Service employees reject applications with wrong photos. We have checked which are the most commonly made mistakes. Read the list below in order to avoid them.

The most often reasons of photos’ disqualification are:

• alterations by any kind of computer software detected by artificial intelligence
• poor-quality prints (especially on inkjet printers)
• over exposition or under exposition of the picture
• smiling in photos
• not an en-face view or head tilted
• bad crop and head tilted at the same time (the most of this kind of images are selfies)

Remember also that the picture you must not:

• have a fashion head covering (the exceptions are religious reasons)
• look sideway
• have your eyes closed
• have your mounts open

Irish driving licence photo online tool

Maybe after reading our guidelines you ask yourself: does really my driving licence photo look like a mug shot? When applying for your driving permit you want to have a decent photo taken and this is completely understandable. You prepare your favourite outfit and do your hair and we want to let you focus on this. take the correct pose and a proper facial expression and check if you like the photo or not. You can try again until it has a satisfactory effect. We will do all the rest!

Once you download the Irish driving licence photo online maker you do not need to worry about resizing, cropping and adjusting the background. This App will do it in one second and you will get a perfectly resized and cropped Irish driving licence picture with the suitable background. You are going to receive it on your email address in JPEG format, ready to print, send via the Internet or upload.

Photo requirements are based on: www.ndls.ie
Last update: 30/09/2023