ID photo: from 9 euros in a shop to printing it for pennies

Nine euros for four ID photos and a wallet-size one

A passport-style photo at a shop costs about as much as a set lunch menu. The latest case to come up in a conversation on the topic: four small photos for the DNI (Spain's national ID card) plus one large wallet-size print, nine euros. You pay through the nose because there is no obvious alternative, and because the process doesn't accept just any photo: 32x26 millimetres, colour, plain white background with no shadows, face uncovered, neutral expression, no sunglasses or glare, well focused and printed on photo paper, not ordinary printer paper. Anyone with a mobile phone can skip the photographer. Anyone who doesn't have one, like the person who peine this discussion, is left staring at the counter.

The 10x15 sheet and the trick of cloning the face

The low-cost method doing the rounds is simple: take the photo with your phone, place it on a 10x15 centimetre template with six or eight ID photos, and take it to a printing kiosk at a hypermarket or photo shop. Pennies per sheet. Then cut it out with scissors. The key is that **a single sheet holds many copies for the same price**, and, according to one participant, nobody at the counter will ask how the photo was made as long as it meets the requirements.

The problem is the previous step. Without a phone with a camera, without a computer and without understanding the steps, the savings evaporate. And then the second problem appears, less technical: **the four spare photos get lost**. Without a fixed address, any piece of paper ends up misplaced and you have to pay again. The domestic solution — a shoebox at someone's home — requires having someone you can trust.

Do copy shops charge for the ink?

It's a fair question: if one copy uses a lot of ink and another almost none, why pay the same? The answer is economic, not technical. **You're charged per sheet, not per drop of ink**, because measuring the exact consumption of each print would cost more than the average price already applied. Some sheets use a lot and others little; the average works out in their favour. Photo paper prints, however, are charged separately, per unit.

The police station: do they take the photo there?

Here the official story and lived experience don't quite match. The widely held version is that National Police stations don't take the DNI photo: you bring your own. But some claim the opposite with a very specific scenario: if the photo you bring looks retouched, the officer sits you down and takes it themselves. **According to that version, the photo is taken at the station when necessary**, and the process continues. There is no firm confirmation that this is in place everywhere, nor that the self-service machines for renewing the card are still operational. When in doubt, ask before spending.

When the problem isn't the photo

If the obstacle is money and being on the street, the range of resources changes. Homeless outreach organisations in the city of Valencia, Cáritas and the city council's social services offer guidance with paperwork, sometimes cover photos and the fee, and in some places keep documents in safekeeping under the person's name. The first step, in any case, is reporting the theft.

The awkward question remains: if the system requires a 32x26 millimetre photo for you to exist administratively, why does the price of that photo depend on whether you have a home to keep it in?