Driving licence photographs sit in an awkward middle ground. In much of the world the photo is captured at the counter when you apply, so there is nothing to prepare. Where a licence is renewed by post or online, you supply one, and it has to meet a specification.
The United Kingdom
The DVLA can reuse your passport photograph for an online renewal, which is the simplest route available anywhere - you consent, and the image is pulled across.
Where a photo is supplied, it follows passport conventions: 45 by 35 mm, plain light background, neutral expression, no glasses if avoidable, taken recently. Paper applications include a photo that must not be damaged, marked or over-signed.
The United States
Licensing is state by state, and most DMVs photograph you in person - partly because the photo is tied to an identity check, and REAL ID requirements pushed most states towards in-person verification.
Several states allow online renewal for eligible drivers, in which case the existing photograph is normally carried forward rather than replaced. Where a state accepts an uploaded photo, it publishes its own specification and it is generally passport-like: square or portrait, plain background, neutral expression, no hats, no sunglasses.
The European Union
EU licences follow a common card format, and the photograph is generally to the same biometric standard as a passport photo - 35 by 45 mm, head 32 to 36 mm, plain light background, neutral expression. Member states differ on whether the photo is taken at the office or supplied.
What is usually different from a passport photo
- Recency rules are often looser, because licences are valid for long periods and the photo is refreshed at renewal.
- Print quality matters less where the image is scanned or captured digitally at the counter.
- The photo is printed small on a card, so sharpness and contrast matter more than fine detail.
- Glasses rules are sometimes more relaxed, though glare is refused everywhere.
If you are supplying one
Treat it as a passport photo and you will be within the rules almost everywhere: plain light background, soft frontal light, camera at eye level about a metre and a half away, neutral expression, mouth closed, eyes open, no hat, no sunglasses, hair clear of the face.
Then crop to whatever the issuing authority specifies rather than to a generic template - a licence photo is one of the places where local formats vary most.
IDShot carries driving licence presets alongside the passport and visa ones, each with its own dimensions and a link to the issuing authority's page.
Requirements are changed by the authorities that publish them, and the official page is the only source that settles an argument. Each preset in IDShot links to that page, so you can confirm the current wording before you submit.