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Just and FYI..
I had to get my own photos done. Dropped by Walgreen's and when it came to pay she asked if I had the coupon. It's in the in store flyer near the back page. Save a couple bucks if you see a need for photos in the near future.

dont the pictures need to be signed by the finger printer ?

Yes, but many folks get their prints done at a LEO location, like police, sheriff, etc.
You take your photos with you to have them signed at fingerprint time.

You can do them even cheaper by taking a digital photo of yourself against a plain white background. Five minutes with a (free) photo editor and you can put four "passport photo" size headshots on a 4x6" print and save it to a USB drive. Go to Target or similar quickie digital photo location and you can get them printed for less than a dollar.

Then if your local PD will fingerprint residents for free...

boomerang wrote:You can do them even cheaper by taking a digital photo of yourself against a plain white background. Five minutes with a (free) photo editor and you can put four "passport photo" size headshots on a 4x6" print and save it to a USB drive. Go to Target or similar quickie digital photo location and you can get them printed for less than a dollar.

Then if your local PD will fingerprint residents for free...

As picky as DPS is about photos, I wouldn't take the chance. The photo has to be the right size, the head has to be the right size, right amount of shoulder showing, no hats, no dark glasses, no headbands, right shade of white for the background....

6 bucks at Walgreens sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Or even better, go to an instructor who does them all the time and includes them in the cost of the class.

Crossfire wrote:As picky as DPS is about photos, I wouldn't take the chance. The photo has to be the right size, the head has to be the right size, right amount of shoulder showing, no hats, no dark glasses, no headbands, right shade of white for the background....

That's not a problem using my own digital camera and irfanview. It was a little more work but it also had the benefit that I got to take several pictures and use the one I like best for my Utah license. Much more flattering than the mug shot on my Texas license.

Crossfire wrote:Or even better, go to an instructor who does them all the time and includes them in the cost of the class.

That works too.

The photo and fingerprint process is nuts. You should be able to get that done for no extra charge at the local DPS office, same as with getting a driver's license.

boomerang wrote:You can do them even cheaper by taking a digital photo of yourself against a plain white background. Five minutes with a (free) photo editor and you can put four "passport photo" size headshots on a 4x6" print and save it to a USB drive. Go to Target or similar quickie digital photo location and you can get them printed for less than a dollar.

Then if your local PD will fingerprint residents for free...

That's pretty much what I did. It helps if you're familiar with a photo editing program. I used The GIMP, which is free. It is, however, not necessarily intuitive. If you've been using such a program, doing the photos yourself is a natural. Otherwise, Walgreens sounds like a good deal.

Free Fingerprints? Shucks, I went to DPS and paid them ten bucks. My buddy did the same, got his rejected, and had to pay another ten to get them done the second time. He asked if he had to pay again, and they said "Yes." So much for the warranty.

Had my prints done a second time at DPS. Had the FAST receipt in my packet of CHL"stuff". They didn't charge me for subsequent prints.....as long as I had the receipt.

Also, did the passport photo at CVS. The pics I had done in class would have surely been refused.

Crossfire wrote:As picky as DPS is about photos, I wouldn't take the chance. The photo has to be the right size, the head has to be the right size, right amount of shoulder showing, no hats, no dark glasses, no headbands,

All you need to know is here http://travel.state.gov/pdf/Photo%20Gui ... -01-04.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; A clamp-type worklight or two will kill the background shadows if you don't have lightstands, strobes and umbrellas laying around.

right shade of white for the background....

You're taking a picture, not painting a Ford: any shade of white is white. (Actually, a light, even color is all that's required. White is recommended because it won't throw off the auto-white-balance that most digital cameras do, or reflect odd-colored light onto the subject.)

You can create valid passport photos with http://idphoto4you.com website.
It uses face detection to set size and position of head.
It is free.
Built-in standards for 63 countries.

Chas. posted this website http://www.onthegosoft.com/passport_photo.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; some time ago. We downloaded the program and used it to renew our Passports. It worked for us and we never had to leave the house.

Anotherjohn and Oldgringo thanks, that's great info.

took my chl class at chltx.com and he did prints, photos and everything needed for the dps packet....