Brazil National ID Card (CIN) Photo: Exact Requirements & How to Prepare

Getting your Brazil National ID card — the Carteira de Identidade Nacional (CIN) — accepted without delays starts with understanding exactly what a compliant photo looks like. The CIN is an ICAO-aligned biometric document issued by your state's Instituto de Identificação, and its photo standard matches international passport-photo norms: a neutral, white-background portrait with precise proportions.

Brazil's new CIN replaced the older Registro Geral (RG) as the country's single national identity document, now linked directly to each citizen's CPF number. Unlike many countries where applicants mail in a printed photograph, the CIN biometric appointment is a controlled in-office session: the Instituto de Identificação captures your facial image digitally on-site alongside fingerprints from both hands. This means the official photo used in the document is taken by staff at the appointment itself — not submitted by the applicant as a printed photo. Knowing the standard in advance means you can walk in with confidence, knowing exactly what the camera operator expects to see.

• Size: 35 × 45 mm (413 × 531 px at 300 dpi)
• Background: plain white (#FFFFFF) — no shadows, gradients, or patterns
• Face coverage: face must fill 70–80% of the frame height
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, both eyes fully open
• Glasses: not permitted under any circumstances
• Head covering: permitted only for documented religious reasons; must not obscure any facial features
• Recency: the image must reflect your current appearance
• Lighting: even, no harsh shadows across the face or background

• Common reasons photos are rejected at Brazilian ID offices:
• Glasses worn in the photo — the CIN standard explicitly prohibits eyewear; even thin frames will cause a retake
• Off-white or cream backgrounds — only pure white (#FFFFFF) is accepted; beige or grey tones are flagged during digital quality checks
• Face too small or too large — the 70–80% face-height rule is checked algorithmically; a face that fills only half the frame, or is cropped at the forehead, will be rejected
• Visible smile or open mouth — biometric facial recognition requires a strictly neutral expression; even a subtle smirk can cause a mismatch score

Our tool automatically crops and calibrates your photo to the exact 35 × 45 mm / 413 × 531 px standard with a pure white background — producing a perfectly proportioned reference image that shows you precisely how a compliant CIN portrait must look. Because the actual document photo is captured digitally at your scheduled appointment, the most practical use of this reference image is twofold: rehearse your expression and framing before you arrive, and keep a ready-to-submit compliant photo for any other Brazilian or international documents — visas, consular forms, or travel permits — that do require an applicant-supplied photograph. Preview your result for free before downloading the full-resolution file.