Italian CIE photo · 35 × 45 mm
Checked and laid out to the Ministry of the Interior’s official photo requirements for the electronic identity card, including the published eye position. Checked by us on 2026-08-17.
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Official specification
| Finished size | 35 × 45 mm |
| Head height (chin to crown) | 70–80% of the photo height (published as a percentage; no millimetre figure) |
| Eye height | 51–69% from the bottom |
| Background | uniform — preferably light blue, beige, light brown, light grey or white — contrasting with the face |
| File formats | JPG |
| File size | up to 500 KB |
| Taken within | the last 6 months |
Full rules
- Width 35 mm, minimum height 45 mm, portraying the whole face with no rotation — both ear lobes visible.
- The face centred so the height of the eyes from the base of the frame is between 23 mm and 31 mm.
- The entire head and the top of the shoulders visible, with the height of the face occupying between 70% and 80% of the height of the photo.
- The photo must not be cropped to exclude the background or to straighten the head, nor retouched, coloured or tampered with.
- You may bring the photo on a USB stick: at least 400 dpi, at most 500 KB, in JPG format.
- Recent — taken no more than six months before — printed on high-quality paper, not folded, stapled, written on or damaged.
- The background uniform, preferably light blue, beige, light brown, light grey or white, to increase the contrast between background and face.
Sources
https://www.cartaidentita.interno.gov.it/en/request-cie/photo-acquisition-process/
Ministry of the Interior, Italy — Electronic Identity Card (CIE), photo acquisition process · we checked it 2026-08-17
Ministry of the Interior, Italy — Electronic Identity Card (CIE), photo acquisition process · we checked it 2026-08-17
Width: 35mm Minimum height: 45mm … The photo must not be cropped to exclude the background or to straighten the head, nor must it be retouched, colored or tampered. The image must be … centered in the image frame so that the height of the eyes from the base of the frame is between a maximum of 31 mm and a minimum of 23 mm. … a photograph on a digital USB support … Image definition: at least 400 dpi File size: maximum 500kb File format: JPG … The photo must be recent, not taken more than six months before. … The background should be uniform preferably light blue, beige, light brown, light gray, or white … the height of the face occupies between 70% and 80% of the height of the photo.Questions
What are the Italian CIE photo requirements?
35 mm wide by at least 45 mm high, recent (within six months), showing the whole face with both ear lobes visible, the face occupying 70–80% of the photo's height, and the eyes between 23 and 31 mm from the base of the frame.
Can I bring the photo digitally?
Yes — on a USB stick: JPG format, at least 400 dpi, at most 500 KB. That is why our output is 630 x 810 pixels: the usual 300 dpi canvas would fail the 400 dpi requirement at this size.
What backgrounds are allowed?
A uniform background, preferably light blue, beige, light brown, light grey or white — the widest official colour list we cover — chosen to contrast with your face.
Can the photo be cropped or edited?
No. The rules say the photo must not be cropped to exclude the background or to straighten the head, nor retouched, coloured or tampered with. We crop to position within the official geometry and never touch your background or your face.
Is this the Italian passport photo?
No — this is the electronic identity card (CIE). The police specification for passports is not accessible to automated retrieval, so under our sourcing rules we only publish the CIE line, whose specification the Ministry of the Interior publishes in English.
Our own assumptions
- This line is the electronic ID card (CIE), not the Italian passport — the police specification PDF for passports refuses automated access outright, so under our sourcing rules we build only what we can quote. The CIE page is the Ministry of the Interior's own English text.
- Italy publishes the face height as 70–80% of the photo rather than in millimetres, so head size is shown as the official percentage band; our 75% layout is the middle of that band, and the eye line of every finished photo is checked against the official 23–31 mm (51–69%) band. We measure the head from the top of the cut-out outline, which includes hair — a voluminous hairstyle will measure taller than the face alone.
- Our output is 630 × 810 px — the official USB channel demands at least 400 dpi, and the usual 413 × 531 px canvas is only 300 dpi at this size, which would fail it.
- The five permitted background colours span more hues than our single-band check can fully verify; light blue, beige and light brown backgrounds may report as warnings even though they are officially acceptable — check them by eye against the official list.
- The chin is measured by 68-point facial landmarks; the crown comes from the top of the cut-out outline. Assumed accuracy ±5%, calibrated only on synthetic fixtures.
Where the authority does not specify something, we say so rather than pretending it does. The points above are our engineering choices, not official requirements.