Universal photos

The theory of applied photography distinguishes the category of so-called Universal photos, which are suitable for multiple documents due to having the same requirements for e.g. poses, but above all the size of the photo. Because the vast majority of photographers in South Africa sell pictures for documents in sets of 4 or 8 identical shots, it's worth knowing where these can be used, because usually one picture is all you need.

The most common dimensions used for photos are 3.5 x 4.5 cm photos and 2 x 2 in photos in the USA. Those photographs are usually suitable for such documents as ID cards, passports, driving licenses, student IDs, transport cards etc...