The background guide: plain, without editing

This tool does not replace backgrounds — no honest browser tool can cut hair out of a messy room cleanly, and most passport authorities reject edited photos anyway. The reliable method is older and simpler: a plain wall, the right distance, and even light.

Shooting setup

• Wall: the plainest wall you have, in (or close to) the colour your spec requires — white or light grey for most countries, royal blue for the Philippines, red accepted for Indonesian documents. A blank door or a hung bedsheet both work; iron the sheet.
• Distance: stand or sit about 1 metre in front of the wall. This single step removes the head-shadow problem, because your shadow falls below the frame.
• Light: face a large window in daytime, or two lamps at 45° on both sides. Never one lamp from the side (half-shadow face) and avoid a bare ceiling light (eye-socket shadows).
• Camera: at eye level, 1.2–1.5 m away, on a tripod or a stack of books with a self-timer. Arm's-length selfies distort the face and tilt the head.
• Clothing: a colour that contrasts with the wall — not white against white (China's guidance says this explicitly) — and nothing covering the chin or forehead.

Self-check (the five-point test)

1. Zoom in: is the background one flat colour in all four corners, with no door edge, picture frame or plant?
2. Is there any shadow of your head or shoulders on the wall? If yes, move further from the wall.
3. Are both sides of the face equally bright?
4. Is the wall's colour close to the spec's colour (white means white, not yellow-cream under tungsten light)? If your lights tint it, daylight fixes it.
5. Does the unedited photo already look like a passport photo? It should — editing is not the plan B.