How to photograph your eye with a phone
- Use the rear camera and turn on 2x zoom or macro mode if your phone has it. Hold it 10–15 cm from your eye.
- File type: JPEG or PNG work best. Your browser converts the photo to a JPEG under 8 MB before upload. iPhone HEIC photos work in Safari on iPhone and iPad; in other browsers, save the photo as a JPEG first.
- Stand side-on to a window with soft daylight. No flash, no ring light, and no direct sun, because they cause glare.
- Open your eye wide, look just past the lens, and tap the screen on your iris to focus.
- Take 5–10 shots and pick the sharpest one. Upload the original photo, not a screenshot.
- Take out coloured contact lenses and take off glasses.
About our photo check: sharper photos give better results, and so do larger ones (ideally 1500 px or more on the short side). If your photo is a little soft, small or has some glare, you’ll see a note, and you can still go ahead. We only turn away photos we can’t use: a file that won’t open, an image under 600 px on the short side (like a screenshot or thumbnail), or a photo where we can’t find an eye near the centre. You’ll see the check result before you pay.
Photographing someone else? You need their permission. For children, you need a parent or guardian’s.
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