Passport Photo Print & Mailing API

The print file you can generate today is a photo sheet on the Passport Photo API. photoSheet.sheetSizes asks for one or more pixel layouts, up to 10, and the response returns a URL for each sheet. A public order endpoint for postage, addresses, and tracking is not in the API reference. If you need prints mailed to a person, confirm coverage, timing, and price with support before you promise delivery in your app. Many UK applications do not need a print at all: they need a UK passport photo code.

A printable sheet from the same call that sizes the photo

Government and visa workflows still ask for paper in some cases. The digital specification and the sheet are one request. You send the portrait and the specCode. You may also send sheetSizes as width*height in pixels. The example in the docs is 1800*1200, a sheet of repeated copies. The single ID photo is still returned as a URL or Base64. The sheet is an extra map of size to URL.

Photo sheet request and response

curl -sS -X POST "https://api-us.idphotoapp.com/v2/makeIdPhoto" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "apiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "apiSecret": "YOUR_API_SECRET",
    "imageBase64": "BASE64_IMAGE",
    "specCode": "us-passport",
    "photoSheet": { "sheetSizes": ["1800*1200"] }
  }'

{
  "photoUuid": "example-photo-uuid",
  "specCode": "us-passport",
  "idPhotoUrl": "https://example-signed-url",
  "widthPx": 600,
  "heightPx": 600,
  "photoDpi": 300,
  "issues": [],
  "photoSheet": {
    "1800*1200": "https://example-sheet-url"
  }
}

US passport details in the specification example are 2 × 2 in and 600 × 600 px at 300 DPI. Sheet URLs follow URL output. The privacy policy describes temporary storage from 2 hours to 14 days for that option. Download the sheet into your own storage if the user will print later. You can also ask for a sheet on POST /v2/getIdPhotoNoWatermark after a watermarked preview, using the same photoSheet object.

When a code replaces a mailed print

For a UK passport applied for online, the applicant enters a photo code. The supplier hosts the JPEG. HM Passport Office retrieves it. You do not need to mail a 35 × 45 mm print for that path. Generate idPhotoCode with uk-passport or uk-digital-passport. The code is not an acceptance decision. Other countries still require paper. Check the issuer. Do not assume a sheet URL satisfies a consulate that wants a specific paper size from the applicant’s own printer.

Physical mailing is not a documented endpoint

Apps, agencies, and studios that still need paper

• Passport photo apps. Let the user download the sheet and print at home, or hand them a UK photo code when the application is online. Offer paid mailing only after support has confirmed it for that destination.
• Travel agencies. Attach the sized JPEG to the case file. If the visa pack needs paper, print from the sheet URL in your own shop or a printer you already contract. The issue list tells you whether to retake before anyone spends ink.
• Studios. sheetSizes can match the paper you load. Up to 10 sizes per request. The booth still captures. The API sizes and repeats.
• HR. Badge printers usually want the single cropped file, not a passport sheet. Use the badge specification. Mailing employee badges is your card vendor’s workflow, not this photo call.

How to request a printable sheet

1. Pick the specCode with POST /v2/getIdPhotoSpec so the single photo matches the document before you repeat it on a sheet.
2. Call /v2/makeIdPhoto with photoSheet.sheetSizes set to the pixel sizes you print. Stay at or under 10 sizes.
3. If issues is not empty, do not print. Map photo issue codes to a retake.
4. Download photoSheet URLs promptly. They are temporary.
5. For a consumer app, use watermark mode first so the sheet is only requested on /v2/getIdPhotoNoWatermark after the user confirms.
6. Talk to support before you add a “we’ll mail it” button.

Why the sheet lives on the Passport Photo API

The crop and the print layout stay in one response, so you cannot print a sheet of a photo that used a different specification than the file you store. You also see issue codes before ink. Postage, if you need it, stays a separate operational agreement instead of an invented shipping API.

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