What IRCC says about photos
According to the official IRCC Help Centre, checked in September 2026, you can only upload one file per field. For photos, IRCC suggests putting them into a document or PDF at a low resolution, 150 DPI or less, to stay within the size limit.
A PDF is the easiest way to keep several photos in one file. It's accepted on every IRCC account, while some image formats aren't accepted everywhere.
Getting the order and layout right
Put pages in the order an officer reads them: front before back for an ID card, page 1 before page 2 for a letter. The tool respects the camera's orientation, so photos taken upright stay upright. Choose no margin for a document that fills the photo, or a small margin for a cleaner look.
If your photos are crooked or have shadows, “Scan to PDF” may give better results: it lets you drag the four corners to straighten each page and apply a grayscale or document filter.
Keep it under the limit
Phone photos are large, and a PDF made from them is roughly as heavy as the photos combined. The IRCC Help Centre lists 4 MB per file for the secure account, citizenship application, Permanent Residence Portal and asylum portal, and 5 MB for the IRCC Portal. If the PDF is over, run it through “Compress PDF” with a target just below your limit.
Everything is 100% free, with no account, and it runs in your browser, so your passport photos never leave your device.
Common mistakes
Uploading several photos into one field loses all but the last. Cropping off edges can cut seals and document numbers. And an unchecked PDF may have pages in the wrong order. If an upload is rejected, check the account limit, confirm the file is a PDF and compress it again if needed.