Photo and signature tools for exam and application forms
An online application wants a photo and a signature of an exact size, between two file sizes. These pages make that file from an ordinary photo or scan.
Four rules, and a form that will not say which one you broke
Every online application asks the same thing in a slightly different way: a photograph and a signature, as JPG files, so many pixels or centimetres across, no smaller than one size in kilobytes and no larger than another. Miss any one of the four and the upload is refused, usually with a message that does not say which was wrong.
Each page below starts from the figures in one body's notice. You add a photo or a scan, drag a crop box that already has the right shape, and download a JPG of that pixel size whose file size is inside the range. The result states the pixels and the bytes, so you can compare them with the notice before you upload.
Nothing here is official, and no page can say that a file will be accepted. That also depends on the photo itself: its background, its age, whether it is clearly you. The figures were read from the notices in October 2026 and they change between notices, so every one of them can be edited. Read the notice you are applying under first.
What each form asks for
Read in October 2026. The form page for each body says which notice a figure comes from, and where one could not be confirmed.
| Form | What you upload | Size | File size |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSC | A signature. The photo is taken live in the form. | About 6 × 2 cm; 4 × 2 cm in some annexures | 10 to 20 KB |
| UPSC | A photograph, and a signature signed three times | 350 × 350 to 1000 × 1000 pixels each | Photo 20 to 200 KB; signature 20 to 100 KB |
| Kerala PSC | A photograph with your name and the date on it | 150 × 200 pixels | Up to 30 KB |
| PAN card | A photograph and a signature, at 200 DPI | 2.5 × 3.5 cm and 4.5 × 2 cm | Up to 20 KB and up to 10 KB |
| Bank exams through IBPS | A signature | 140 × 60 pixels preferred | 10 to 20 KB |
| Railway recruitment | A signature, at 100 DPI or more | 50 × 20 mm | 10 to 40 KB in some notices, 30 to 70 KB in others |
By form
The figures from the notice are filled in. Change any of them if your notice differs.
SSC Photo & Signature Resizer
SSC application forms take a signature as a JPG of 10 to 20 KB, about 6 cm wide and 2 cm high.
UPSC Photo & Signature Resizer
The UPSC application wants a JPG photo and a JPG signature, each inside a pixel band and a file-size range.
PSC Photo Resizer
Kerala PSC's one-time registration takes a photo 150 pixels wide and 200 high, under 30 KB, with your nam…
PAN Card Photo & Signature Resizer
An online PAN application asks for a small colour photo under 20 KB and a signature under 10 KB, both sca…
Signatures
For any form: by pixels, or by the two physical sizes forms most often give. The last page puts a photo and a signature in one file, for forms that want them together.
Signature Resizer
Online forms want a signature as a small JPG: so many pixels wide and high, and between two file sizes.
Resize Signature to 6×2 cm
Six centimetres wide and two high is a long, shallow strip: three times as wide as it is tall.
Resize Signature to 50×20 mm
Fifty by twenty millimetres is the signature box on railway recruitment forms.
Merge Photo and Signature
Combine a passport-style photo and a signature in one file, the signature under the photo or beside it, a…
Photos, names and file sizes
Crop a portrait to a passport shape, print a name and a date on it, bring a file under a limit, or lift it over a minimum.
Passport Photo Cropper
Real millimetre sizes at 300 DPI (35 × 45 mm, 2 × 2 in and more) plus an optional 6 × 4 inch print sheet…
Add Name and Date to Photo
Some application forms want the candidate's name, and the date the photo was taken or a date of birth, pr…
Compress Image to 20KB
A 20 KB limit is what application forms set for signature scans and small photos.
Compress Image to 50KB
Fifty kilobytes is the usual ceiling for the photograph on an online application.
Increase Image Size in KB
Some upload forms reject a photo for being too small: "file must be at least 50 KB".
Guides that go with these tools
Longer articles on the decisions behind them.
Photo and signature sizes for exam and application forms
Six forms, read from the bodies' own notices and instructions in October 2026: what each asks you to upload, in what size and within what file size, and which figures could not be confirmed.
Read the guide How-to · 7 min readHow to reduce a photo to 20 KB
A 20 KB limit cannot be met by compression alone. The picture has to become the small size the form wants first, and then be compressed. Here is the order to do it in, and what to expect at the end.
Read the guide Reference · 10 min readPassport photo sizes: a reference guide
Photo requirements are specified in millimetres, judged by a human, and change without notice. This is what the numbers mean, how they convert to pixels, and why photos get rejected.
Read the guideFrequently asked questions
Which page do I use if my exam is not listed?
Use the Signature Resizer for the signature and the Passport Photo Cropper or the Image Resizer for the photo, and type in the size and the KB range from your notice. Every form page here is those same tools with the numbers filled in.
Why does the form say my file is the wrong size when it looks right?
Usually because the limit has two ends. A file can be refused for being under the minimum as well as over the maximum, and a neat signature on white paper is often smaller than the minimum. The form pages here bring a file up to the minimum when that happens, and say so in the result.
Is a kilobyte 1,000 or 1,024 bytes on these forms?
The forms do not say. These pages therefore keep a file between the larger meaning of the minimum and the smaller meaning of the maximum: a range of 10 to 20 KB is treated as at least 10,240 bytes and at most 20,000, which passes either way.
Can I use a photo taken on my phone?
For the file, yes: a phone photo has far more pixels than any form asks for. Whether the photo itself is suitable is for the notice to say. Most ask for a recent photo, facing the camera, against a plain light background, and some want your name and a date printed on it. These pages size the picture; they do not change its background.