How to Print Passport Photos at Walmart for About $1
The in-store service is $7.64. Here's how we made the same photo on a phone and printed it at Walmart for a fraction of that.
Most people don’t realize Walmart will print a passport photo you bring in. You don’t have to pay $7.64 for the Photo Center to shoot it. You can make the photo on your phone, then have Walmart print it as a regular 4×6 for about $0.39. We did exactly that at a local store, and this is the flow.
One thing worth knowing before you go: not every Walmart still has a staffed Photo Center, but the self-serve 4×6 print works at almost all of them, so this method holds even where the passport service is gone. Quick check at walmart.com/store-finder if you want to be sure.
Make the Photo First (the White Background Is Handled for You)
The reason this is so cheap: Walmart isn’t taking the photo, so there’s no studio, no backdrop, no service fee. You bring a finished, compliant photo and they just print it.
You don’t need a white wall at home either. Shoot the photo on your phone against any background. The tool removes the background and drops in the compliant white, crops to the US 2×2 spec, and checks your head size against the State Department rules.
The result is a print-ready 4×6 sheet with several copies already laid out:
Order It as an Ordinary 4×6 Print
On walmart.com/photo or the in-store kiosk, choose Prints → 4×6 Prints, the everyday photo product, not the “Passport Photos” service. Upload the sheet you just made.
Set quantity to 1, pick pickup, and watch one setting: turn off any crop, zoom, or auto-enhance (“do not crop” / “full image”). The sheet is already sized to spec. If Walmart zooms it, the printed photos come out the wrong dimensions and get rejected. Before you pay, confirm the preview shows the whole sheet, edge to edge.
That’s the entire cost on Walmart’s side: about $0.39.
Pick It Up and Cut
Walmart messages you when it’s ready. We collected ours at the Photo Center counter.
Inside is the 4×6 sheet with several copies on it. Cut them apart with scissors or a paper cutter. The spare copies are built-in backups if one cut goes crooked.
All in: roughly $1.39 with the photo tool, versus $7.64 at the counter. You also keep the digital file, which online passport renewal (DS-82) needs and the in-store prints don’t include.
Works for Visa, Green Card, and Other IDs
Same trick, any document. Just choose the right size before you make the sheet. We support 142 ID photo types across 190 countries: passports, visas, green cards, national IDs, and more. Find the photo you need, download the 4×6, and print it at Walmart the same way. No Walmart handy? The same method works at CVS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as Walmart's passport photo service?
No. The in-store service ($7.64 for two) means a Photo Center associate shoots and prints the photo. Here you make the photo yourself first, then Walmart only prints it as an ordinary 4x6. that's why it's about $0.39.
Do I need Walmart's white backdrop for this?
No. The white background is added when you make the photo on your phone. The tool removes whatever's behind you and drops in the compliant white, then Walmart just prints the finished sheet. Any background at home is fine.
Will it still work if my Walmart's Photo Center closed?
Usually yes. A plain 4x6 print is a self-serve product, so it often works even at stores that dropped the staffed passport service. Confirm your store still offers photo printing at walmart.com/store-finder before going.
Can I use this for visa or ID photos too?
Yes. The same flow works for visa, ID, green card, and other documents. Just pick the right photo size before you make the sheet.
Make your photo for ~$1
Shoot it on your phone, get a print-ready 4x6 sheet, then print it at Walmart for $0.39 each. You also keep the digital file the counter service doesn't give you.
Try the $1 phone workflowPrefer someone else handle it? $7.64 at the Walmart counter is the cheapest staffed option in the US.