It's that if we want to print out a photo that we took ourselves, that looks like a passport photo - CVS or Walgreens will charge us $7.99 for doing nothing more than printing out another 4x6 photo. No expertise on cutting the photo or composing the shot required at all by the CVS or Walgreens employee.

As for the $50,000 paper processor that the photos are printed out from - the cost is the same for a 4x6 photo comprised of six 2x2 photos of me (for a passport) and a 4x6 photo of me and friends.

The last time I renewed my passport was almost 10 years ago - we used a standard 35mm film camera, took photos against an off-white wall and took it to Costco to develop. What's the difference between that and taking a SD card to a store which offers digital prints? Is developing film and printing a photo that much different? Yep, the printing is much less labor intensive!

I wonder what would happen if someone took some film in to be developed, and it was shots for a passport - would CVS have an issue with this too? (I don't know how much it costs to develop film these days...)

As far as pricing goes, yes, your eight dollar passport pictures are printed on the same paper as your 29 cent 4x6 prints. (Let's ignore for now that we print it on our $50,000+ paper processor). It costs more because we do it fast, cut it exactly, and are trained to know how to take shots that won't get sent back to you in the mail six or seven times before they're accepted. If your experience doesn't go smoothly, you've unfortunately picked a Walgreens where they don't know what the fuck they're doing. When a chain has over 5000 stores out there, yeah, some are going to suck. A lot. Welcome to retail. I sympathize with your frustration, but please believe me when I say that there isn't a section in the photo lab training literature instructing us to treat you poorly and then overcharge you. If you had a crappy experience, report it to the store manager or district office. I'll come help you picket the store if you want.

For those of you still unconvinced who want to ask me to my face, "so, in your heart of hearts, you really think these two tiny pictures you sold me are worth eight bucks?", my answer would be... no, not really. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit our pricing could be better. Many people can print photo-lab quality pictures in their homes now, and Walgreens has frequently dropped the ball on ways to keep these people's business. Will it come back and bite us in the ass at some point? Quite possibly (Although, for those of you who have stated your desire to see CVS drive us into the ground, be aware that CVS is not the enemy, they're the loyal opposition; Wal-Mart is the enemy). Maybe we'll come up with a new brilliant way soon to deliver more passport pictures to more people at better prices. That's a (admittedly less likely) possibility too. But for now, yeah, they cost $7.99, and if that's insulting to you, we're sorry we won't be keeping your business.

But hey, for where I live at least, it beats the price you'll pay to get'em taken at the post office.

My bad. This is in Canada. I ASS-U-MEd that the US would have similar/more stringent passport policies than us after all the crazy terrorist stuff...

This story made me laugh. I had my passport photo taken at Walgreens a few years ago and the passport office rejected it, because the "photographer" zoomed in way too far and the photo did not fit their template.

@shepd:

When was that? I did my daughter's at the end of 2005 and had a visa photo done in a hurry by Sears last year (no special stamp or signature in either case).

I took and printed my own photos (at home) for our daughter's passport. Quick, cheap, and no hassles.

Same here. Read the rules and did the wife's passport photo in front of a white door in my house, cropped it appropriately, printed on photo paper and trimmed. Few weeks later, voila: passport. Cost was maybe 10c for the ink and paper. Less time than going to the Walgreens around the corner.

Now he's going on three years old and will be stuck with that baby picture in his passport for another two years, poor kid.

I'm not sure if you're joking or not....so either get a life or good one!

I take it you don't travel out of the country much. If you use the passport for the full 10 years, it's nice to have a pleasing photo.

The USPS passport processor said they didn't like the shadows behind him and couldn't tell what color his eyes were for sure. Thankfully she was feeling generous that day I guess, and took them anyway.

Considering the "service" we've gotten from Walgreens photo (not to mention CVS and some of their competitors), I'll just use my color laser printer at home.
I'm so sick of the crappy service, inability to get pictures back on time (or at all), and knowledge-poor employees...!

I'm not sure if you're joking or not....so either get a life or good one!

Good to know. My passport is up for renewal next year and I now own a digital camera that's nice enough to take a valid photo. I'll be sure to have Rite Aid or someone like that print them out for me.

Unless you're talking about film processing, which is cheaper since they burn the photo instead of using ink/dye sub.

Too bad Canadian passport photos require you to have your pictures stamped and by the photography studio.

I wouldn't have dared try them on my own anyway, the requirements for the pictures are insane. There was a lot of software involved on the part of the photographer to make sure the pictures worked, it took 3 or 4 shots. They guaranteed the photos as well.

Some things are best left in professional hands. I say this as someone avidly into photography. Which is why I wouldn't bother with Walgreens for their photos or prints, passport or not. Walgreens trying to charge you extra for taking the photos yourself is a bit insane.

This was at the US Consulate at Montreal, and not a post office, so I was actually dealing with State Dept officials.

Oddly enough, my only problem with passport photos was when my application several years ago was rejected for not including photos--which it had indeed included. Gotta love Chicago.

When I was preparing my application for a passport renewal, I went to Ritz anticipating that they would stand me in front of a background with full lighting gear and use one of the 2 lens instant cameras. They have signs all over the place stating that they take passport photos, so I figured I would go to the "experts"

I tell the clerk that I need a passport photo, and he grabs a Kodak Point and Shoot camera from the display counter and stands me infront of an old sale sign taped backwards to the wall (so it was a plain white background). After about 30 shots, he finally got one that was only mildly blury and did not have a huge glare on my glasses. He went over to the Kodak self serve kiosk and printed out my pictures and handed them too me. They were so blury and dark that I was not able to use them.

I had my wife retake the pictures at home against a white wall. Imported them into Photoshop to crop them and do a bit of color correction, inserted the picture into a M.S. word template that I created. As I fo frequent International Travel, I printed the page out on 8.5 x 11 glossy photo paper that I had on hand and I now have 12 passport photos that I can use for my passports and Visa applications. I saved the Word document so that I can print out additional photos as I need them for foreign visas.

The Department of State has guidelines for the proper passport photo on their website: [travel.state.gov]

Walgreens offers two different services:
1.) Passport pictures they take and size and make sure meet regulations.
2.)Print your own photos that you take and size and make sure meet whatever requirements you have.

How can they charge you for a service they didn't perform, unless they are going back through the photo and resizing it and making sure it meets regulations and making sure the lighting is ok and whatever else they do? Something tells me they aren't doing these things and they are trying to charge people for a service they didn't actually do.

Just avoid Walgreen's for passport photos. I had mine done there once about two years ago. When I went to the post office to submit my passport application they told me that the State Department would probably reject the photo because it didn't meet specifications...but I was welcome to try and send it in anyway.

This was back when it was taking 12+ weeks to get a passport, so I had them re-take the photo at the post office. Good thing, because even though I submitted my passport application four months before my trip I still got it only two weeks prior to my departure. I would have been screwed it I had to re-submit the photo.

Last couple times we got passport type photos (for various SE Asian visas) we got them in Thailand. 30 baht for two sets of photos, taken and printed (about a buck), and before that was the "expensive" place, where we had a guy spend some time getting good shots (and they loaned my girlfriend a jacket so she'd look more official): 120 baht (4 bucks). Her best pic, and she's one of those people who always manages to sabotage her pictures.

Now sure, some of you are trying to say it's not worth flying to Thailand just to save $5, but pile on a few things. Got some dental work needed? For the price of two or three crowns in the USA you can have a month in Thailand plus the dental work (excellent work). Or if you need an operation that's not an emergency and you're paying for it, again, go to Thailand, stay a month, eat out, save money. And any sewing repairs you need, zippers replaced, pictures you need, and get your hair cut while you're at it ($3 with shampooing and scalp massage), pile that all on.

The USPS basically checks the paperwork, takes a photo (for a fee) then stuffs it all in a Priority Mail envelope (which you pay for) to send it to the Feds.

The only "in person" application really is if you go to the federal passport centers. There it's even possible to get a same-day passport if you have travel already booked. I've had colleagues do this for last-minute work travel.

Grr, I wish this article had come out last week (ok, I'm a little recent to Consumerist). My husband and kids had to have "passport-type" photos for registration with the French government, so we went to a Rite-aid to do them, all 3 for $30. I didn't even realize that I could have done it on-line, or even at AAA for free.

At least when we need to actually renew our passports (I think mine and one kid is coming up next year), I'll keep this in mind.

And why, exactly, should Walgreens want to subsidize someone else's passport photo service? They don't fill scripts paid for at CVS either.

I have a hard time getting a nice expression in a posed photo... I tend to look a little crazy because I am usually nervous. It's not so much saving $8 that would tempt me to take my own passport photo, but the control I have over picking a good shot.

When it was time for my daughter's passport, we decided to take the photo ourselves. Without using any online service or templates, we just popped the card out of our camera and into the photo kiosk. I found the ID template and my my daughter's photo set. I printed out the 4x6 and took it to the register. Total price: $0.19.

I guess they charge $7.80 for camera rental, studio backdrop, photographer, and graphic artist's fee. Actually, pretty cheap when you think about it :p

However, Walgreens is known for being anal assholes. I hope walgreens and CVS both go under.

For me it was worth it. By the time I set everything up to take a good head shot and got it printed I would have burned up more than $5 worth of my time.

If Walgreens is in the business of charging me a 4200% premium for a print based on factors that do not affect their printing costs, then I'm in the business of avoiding them as a printer. It's the circle of life!

And yes, obviously no advice should be offered by any employee about passport photo regulations if that expertise is part of a service you charge a fee for. Doesn't sound like the OP asked any questions at all, nor does epassportphoto.com sound like they're asking for any handouts. They're merely asking to print a photo at a standard size on standard paper just like any other photo and their business is being turned away. Seems pretty short-sighted to me.

Maybe wallgreens checks specifically for the epassportphoto.com photos?

I was planning to trek over to the Walgreens near me today to see if they had any soda on sale (as I usually do when there's not a good sale on that item at Target or the grocery store) but I'll skip that little trip after reading this. Sorry, Walgreens. I don't like to patronize bullies.

Do something helpful and useful and you have a much better chance of success than going the bully route and trying to protect lines of business that are no longer capable of keeping you in the black without doing something unethical. (I'm also looking at you, companies whose main line of profit seems to be offering extended warranties.)

Photo prices are almost always based on content, which is why professional photographers charge more for their work.

Also, photo content will forever be a concern for anyone in the retail printing business simply for legal copyright reasons. Sorry. Maybe people think that printers can just churn it out without looking at the photo they're printing but that's not how it works. That and quality, however, would be the only reasons I would ever look at the content.

Regular American passports, btw, aren't required to have a signature on the back of the photos submitted so asking a company to do it for you when you really took it yourself wouldn't be a concern. Perhaps if you need a signature, you could sign it yourself? All it says is they need the photographer's signature right? You're the photographer. Nowhere does it say that the photographer can't be the subject too right?

This whole discussion is rediculous. In the U.S., if you follow their photo guidelines at the State Dept. website, anybody with a basic point-and-shoot can snap a passport photo that qualifies. You can also print it yourself on just about any $150 inkjet printer. I have taken dozens of PP pix for friends & relatives over the years with all types of cameras, & haven't a single reject!

This FAQ from the US Dept of State:

http://travel.state.gov/passport/guide/digital/digital_880.html

says that it's perfectly fine to use a digital camera and a digital printer to make passport photos, so long as the result is "high quality and photo-like in appearance".

I recently did passport photos for my wife and myself. I used a Canon A590 point-and-shoot camera, sized the photos at epassportphoto.com, adjusted the brightness a little bit in Photoshop Elements, and printed them on glossy paper on a Canon Pixma 6600 printer. The resulting pictures were better than the off-center ones I got for free at AAA, and the Passport Office apparently had no issues with them, as we mailed our old expired passports in and got our new passports with our home-made photos back in a bout 3 weeks.

The only difference between hindsight and forethought is when you bother to think things through.

If you have a photo printer and digital camera, why even bother with ePassport.com? Guidelines for photos:

[travel.state.gov]

Have someone take your picture:

Use a room with a lot of natural indirect sunlight filtering in. Stand at least a foot from a LIGHT colored wall, off-white, eggshell, etc., preferably a flat, non-reflective finish. Have the photographer take your picture about six feet away from you using NO FLASH. Use your favorite photo editing tool, apply any brightness, color correction, cropping, sizing, and print according to the reqirements above. Cut the pics to a 2x2 size.

I've done this several times for friends and family without a problem.

It's all very legit.

Passport photos are an enormous ripoff. I paid the $7 thinking I was getting the knowledge about how to size it correctly and profesional equipment. The clerk at CVS pulled out a dinged up antique digital camera, took my picture against their super-special pull-down screen, uploaded it into their customer photo computers, touched three buttons on the screen, and charged me for her forty-five seconds of work.

I set aside a day for passport photos and want to make sure my hair and makeup are perfect (remember, 10 years!). I try to be as relaxed as possible, because there's nothing like a JFK customs inspector LAUGHING at your passport upon arrival...it's not like you can be a smartass since that will guarantee a thorough searching of your bags.

I suppose you could somehow get such a stamp, but I expect it would be regulated by the government somehow.

This has changed somehow?

@ IvanaOtter

You're right - but I don't think in these cases people were printing their 4x6s then asking Walgreens to proof them. They want to walk in, print their photos (which is their own GD business,) pay and walk out.

The specifications and details come from ePassport photo, and they even offer an acceptance guarantee.

Also in my experiences "care and diligence" are not words I'd use to describe the traits of most Walgreen's staff. Sorry.

You can't have a "because we want more money" fee and not expect customers to go elsewhere. It's not like customers exist just to fork over cash.

But I'm not saying any dimwit could do it...

My own thinking is that the $7 is paying for the digital passport camera, the time of the employee taking the picture, and (if you go to the right store) the care and diligence in making sure the picture fits all requirements. If someone is printing a 4x6 off of a kiosk, they can go ahead; they'll get no help or advice from us on U.S. passport regulations.

They now scan the photo, badly, blow it up until you can see the pixels and re-crop it so your head fills almost the entire frame. I was never vain about my passport photo before and had the last one done at Kinko's (as an example). But the way it appears on the passport now is so warped that it doesn't look like me at all. My head looks huge with red blotches all over my face.

My mother didn't even think it was me.

1) Frame subject with full face, front view, eyes open

2) Make sure photo presents full head from top of hair to bottom of chin; height of head should measure 1 inch to 1-3/8 inches (25 mm to 35 mm)

3) Center head within frame (see Figure 2 below)

4) Make sure eye height is between 1-1/8 inches to 1-3/8 inches (28 mm and 35 mm) from bottom of photo

5) Photograph subject against a plain white or off-white background

6) Position subject and lighting so that there are no distracting shadows on the face or background

7) Encourage subject to have a natural expression

I mean really if you would rather trust a guy making 7 bucks a hour to know better than you, sure go ahead. But even a dunce should be able to follow the guidelines and do this. Its not hard.

And better yet if you do it yourself you can guarantee the guidelines are right, I have heard of people having store bought passport photos rejected all the time.

The official Canadian requirements state that the name of the photographer, address and date is provided on the back of one photo. This information may be handwritten by the photographer. Note that ePassportPhoto.com cannot provide this signature as we are not the photographer

@Randy Treibel

"We forget they are not in existance to serve us, but to profit from us. "

Who can forget when we have people like you to blame the consumer for wanting some sort of value from a company?

the photo you submit must have an information stamp on the back with the date, location and a signature indicating that the photo is of who they say it is. A retailer taking passport photos puts their integrity on the line, leading to the higher cost for a couple of photos

Saying that, you can still get it done inexpensively, there is no need to pay upwards of $20 for your passport photos.

And honestly, compared to all the other costs I incurred preparing for my trip to China a few years ago, $8 was a bargain.

Also, I got my passport photos taken at CVS Pharmacy and got a sheet of 8 or 10 photos for $8.

It does take a little prep with the camera and lighting to get it right. Go to the US passport page to get the facts on that stuff.

I had to set up a small lamp between the back of the subject and the wall in addition to using a flash on the camera to get the lighting right (no shadows).

@ Randy Treibel-

That's not the point. The point is that I'm coming in to print a 4x6 photo, not use THEIR photography/passport service.

They content of my photo should be considered irrelevant. I'm simply using their PHOTO PRINTING service.

That's why I said tell them "I'm printing a work badge." and see what they try to charge you...

I get my prints at CVS. Instant prints are 29¢, one hour prints are 19¢. No problems at all. Never tried walgreens, and now I'm glad. Between this and ending their rebate program next month, I'm going to be done with wags pretty soon.

I posted on this yesterday and couldn't believe Walgreens called ePassport Photo a "scam" - especially when ePassport Photo doesn't charge ANYTHING for their site. (they make money off ads.)

Seems to me the scam is Walgreen's charging for photos based on content rather than minding their own business and charging for quantity and size. The content of a photo is irrelevant and should not create any decision whatsoever on Walgreen's part.

If you wanted to challenge Walgreens you could send your 4×6 headshots in and say they're for your work security badge or future mug shot. Try it and then see what track the logic train ends up on.

[www.futuregringo.com]

People that find ePassport photo's site are STILL going to use it, so in addition to being a bully Walgreens is screwing themselves out of money derived from regular photo printing. They're also losing money from people like me, who having learned of this nonsense will take my photo printing elsewhere when needed.

This is just another way that Walgreen's is trying to make money off of people. Use their service or pay a steep price. As long as the photos are not copyrighted you can have them printed at Wal-mart chepaer than 7.99.

You could always just toss it in with the latest batch of vacation pics. Are they really going to check 40 or so pictures for a passport look alike photo?

I have used photos from a carnival booth for a passport. Trimmed to the proper dimensions, they worked fine.

Drug stores should be looking into replacing photo labs with something more profitable.