Photo and signature sizes for Indian exam and ID forms: UPSC, GATE, UGC NET, IBPS, SBI, RRB, NEET, JEE Main, SSC, PAN and Passport Seva

Every exam body and ID service sets its own upload rules, and they do not agree. IBPS wants a 200 × 230 pixel photo between 20 and 50 KB. UPSC, on its new portal upsconline.nic.in, wants a 20–200 KB photo and a 20–100 KB image holding three signatures. NEET and JEE Main give only a KB range. SSC no longer takes an uploaded photo: its form captures a live one. The table sets out seven forms as the official notices state them. The figures the site’s resizers use were checked on 2 October 2026, and every source was read again on 13 October 2026 for this guide. The UPSC figures were checked again on 21 October 2026, after UPSC moved its applications to the new portal; the 20–300 KB and 350 × 350 px figures still quoted elsewhere come from the FAQ of its previous One Time Registration portal.

The specifications, body by body

Form	Photo size	Photo file	Signature size	Signature file	Format	Background	Official source
UPSC, upsconline.nic.in	No pixel size; colour, face covering 75% of the photo, both ears visible	20–200 KB	350 to 500 pixels (side not stated); three signatures, one below the other, in one image	20–100 KB	JPG	Photo: plain white. Signature: black ink on white paper	UPSC “Instructions for uploading documents” and “Photo & Signature” instructions
IBPS, CRP PO/MT-XVI	200 × 230 px (preferred); a 4.5 cm × 3.5 cm passport-style colour photo	20–50 KB	140 × 60 px (preferred)	10–20 KB	JPG/JPEG	Photo: light-coloured, preferably white. Signature: white paper, black ink	Notification, Annexure III
NEET (UG) 2026	No pixel size; passport size, 80% of the image the face, ears visible	10–200 KB	No pixel size	10–100 KB	JPG/JPEG	White	NTA Information Bulletin
JEE (Main) 2026	No pixel size; passport size, colour, 80% face, ears visible	10–200 KB	No pixel size	10–100 KB	JPG/JPEG	White	NTA Information Bulletin
SSC, CGL 2025 notice	No upload: a live photo is captured in the form	Not applicable	About 6.0 cm wide × 2.0 cm high	10–20 KB	JPEG/JPG	Not applicable	Notice, sections 9.4 to 9.6
PAN, Form 49A with scanned images	3.5 × 2.5 cm at 200 DPI, colour	Maximum 20 KB	2 × 4.5 cm at 200 DPI, colour	Maximum 10 KB	JPEG	Not stated	Protean guidelines for Form 49A
Passport Seva	630 × 810 px, colour	No limit stated	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not stated	White	Passport Seva ICAO photograph guidelines
GATE 2027	200 × 260 px minimum, 530 × 690 px maximum; aspect ratio 0.66 to 0.89	5–600 KB	250 × 80 px minimum, 580 × 180 px maximum; width 2.75 to 3.75 times the height	3–300 KB	JPEG/JPG	Photo: white. Signature: black or dark blue ink	GATE 2027 “Photograph and Signature” page
UGC NET December 2026	No pixel size; 80% face, ears visible, colour or black and white	10–200 KB	No pixel size	10–50 KB	JPG/JPEG (upload-page replica)	Photo: white. Signature: not stated	NTA Information Bulletin (revised 16 October 2026)
SBI, Junior Associates 2026	200 × 230 px (preferred)	20–50 KB	140 × 60 px (preferred)	10–20 KB	JPG/JPEG	Photo: light, preferably white. Signature: black ink on white paper	Advertisement CRPD/CR/2026-27/17, Annexure II
RRB NTPC, CEN 06/2026 and 07/2026	No upload: a live photo is captured in the form	Not applicable	140 × 60 px minimum, scanned at 100 DPI or more	30–49 KB	JPG/JPEG	Black ink on white paper	CEN 06/2026, para 14.5.1

Centimetres need a resolution. Pixels = centimetres ÷ 2.54 × DPI. The site’s PAN resizer reads the photo as 3.5 cm high by 2.5 cm wide (a portrait), which is 197 × 276 px at 200 DPI, and the signature as 2 cm high by 4.5 cm wide, 354 × 157 px. SSC gives no resolution, so the SSC signature resizer makes 472 × 157 px and writes 200 DPI into the file, which measures 6.0 × 2.0 cm.

“Preferred” is IBPS’s word. Its annexure calls 200 × 230 and 140 × 60 pixels preferred sizes. The KB ranges are stated as limits, and the form will not let you continue until the photo and signature meet the specifications.

SSC is different. Section 9.4 of the CGL 2025 notice says no pre-existing photograph is needed: the application module takes one through your camera. Section 9.5 adds that capturing a photo of an existing photograph leads to rejection. So this site has an SSC resizer for the signature only.

Uploads beyond the photo and signature

• IBPS also asks for a left thumb impression (240 × 240 px at 200 DPI, which it describes as 3 cm × 3 cm, 20–50 KB) and a hand-written declaration (800 × 400 px at 200 DPI, described as 10 cm × 5 cm, 50–100 KB). Both are JPG/JPEG on white paper. It also captures a live photo.
• NEET asks for finger and thumb impressions of both hands. The bulletin gives two ranges in different places: 10 to 200 KB, and 50 to 300 KB. A file between 50 and 200 KB satisfies both, and the NEET resizer aims for that. NEET and JEE Main also capture a live photograph.
• UPSC also asks for a photo identity document as a JPG of 20–200 KB. The three signatures go one below the other on plain white paper, scanned as a single image with no lines or colours.
• Passport Seva’s other photo rules, and how they compare with the US and UK, are in the passport photo requirements guide.

Hitting a KB range: resize first, then compress

A file’s size depends on how many pixels it has and how hard each is compressed. Fix the pixels first, because the form fixes them, then adjust the JPEG quality until the file lands in the range. The other way round means saving the JPEG twice, and each save discards a little more detail.

This table shows how much room each range leaves. A KB is 1,024 bytes, and “bits per pixel” is file size × 8 ÷ pixel count. The ToolsRift resizers aim inside the stricter readings (a maximum at 1,000 bytes per KB, a minimum at 1,024), so their files pass however a portal counts.

Upload	Pixels	Uncompressed (3 bytes per pixel)	Minimum allows	Maximum allows
IBPS photo, 200 × 230	46,000	138,000 bytes	3.56 bits per pixel	8.90
IBPS signature, 140 × 60	8,400	25,200 bytes	9.75	19.50
UPSC signature, 500 × 500	250,000	750,000 bytes	0.66	3.28
SSC signature, 472 × 157	74,104	222,312 bytes	1.11	2.21
PAN photo, 197 × 276	54,372	163,116 bytes	No minimum	3.01
PAN signature, 354 × 157	55,578	166,734 bytes	No minimum	1.47

For scale, the paper that introduced JPEG describes 1.5 to 2.0 bits per pixel as “usually indistinguishable from the original” for colour photographs.

The maximum is rarely the problem at these pixel sizes. Only the PAN and SSC signatures are tight. Clean white paper is mostly blank and costs few bits; a grey, shadowed phone photo of it costs far more, so clean the signature before compressing.

The minimum can be the real obstacle. The IBPS signature must be at least 10 KB, yet the whole image is only 25,200 bytes before any compression. A clean signature at 140 × 60 pixels is likely to come out well under 10 KB however high the quality is set. IBPS’s own route is to scan at a minimum of 200 DPI in true colour and then crop. The site’s resizers warn you when a file is under the minimum and offer optional padding, which adds empty bytes and leaves the picture unchanged. No notice says whether a portal accepts a padded file, so treat it as a last resort.

What the notices say gets an application rejected

These come from the notices themselves.

• Unclear images. IBPS: if the face, signature, thumb impression or declaration is “unclear / smudged”, the application may be rejected. NEET: applications with unclear photographs are liable to be rejected, and unclear finger and thumb impressions will be rejected. JEE Main: no admit card is issued where the photograph is indistinct or doubtful.
• Blurred or tiny signatures. SSC rejects applications with “blurred/miniature” signatures summarily.
• Capital letters. IBPS does not accept a signature or declaration written in capital letters. The declaration must be in the candidate’s own handwriting, in English.
• Caps, masks and dark glasses. IBPS: caps, hats and dark glasses are not acceptable; religious headwear is allowed if it does not cover the face. SSC: no cap, mask or spectacles in the live photo. NEET and JEE Main: 80% of the face visible, with ears, and no mask. NEET allows spectacles only if you wear them regularly.
• Edited or generated photos. NEET: Polaroid and computer-generated photos are not acceptable, and a photo that looks fabricated, “de-shaped”, hand-made or computer-made gets the application rejected as unfair means. JEE Main lists uploading a wrong or morphed photograph or signature as unfair means.
• Someone else’s image. NEET and JEE Main treat this as unfair means. IBPS disqualifies a candidate whose signature at the examination does not match the uploaded one. UPSC’s portal captures a live photograph and compares it with the uploaded photo; a mismatch stops the application.
• No second chance. NEET says the facility to correct a photo or signature will not be given.

SSC’s notice makes one exception: applications submitted through Aadhaar-based authentication are not rejected on the photo and signature grounds above.

Steps with the site’s tools

1. Start from a good original. Photo: a plain white or light wall, even light, face square to the camera. Signature: black ink on plain white paper, scanned or photographed straight on.
2. Clean the signature. The Signature Extractor & Resizer finds the ink, crops to it and puts it on a clean background. Choose White JPEG under Background for exam forms.
3. Open the resizer for your form from the table above. If the form has several uploads, pick one under What are you uploading?. Under Fit to the size, Crop to fill fills the frame and Fit with white margins keeps the whole picture. For photos, Keep which part when cropping starts on Top (keeps the head).
4. Press Resize for upload. Where the rules give a pixel size, the tool makes exactly that size. It then searches JPEG quality from 100% down to 30% for the highest quality that fits under the maximum. Where no pixel size is given (NEET, JEE Main, the UPSC photo), it keeps your proportions and shrinks the picture only if quality alone cannot reach the limit.
5. Read the “Check against the rules” table in the result. It compares dimensions, file size and format with the requirement. Background is marked as your responsibility, because the tool does not judge it. A note below the table names the official source and the date it was checked.
6. For a form that is not listed, use Resize Image in KB and Pixels: enter Width, Height, Minimum size, Maximum size and, where stated, DPI to write. For a maximum only, Compress Image to 50 KB has an editable Target size.
7. Preview on the portal before you confirm. Everything here runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded to this site.

How to check this yourself

• Pixels and KB: open the file’s properties and read the width and height in pixels and the size.
• Centimetres to pixels: 6.0 cm ÷ 2.54 × 200 DPI is 472 pixels.
• The rule itself: open the source and search it for “photograph” and “signature”. The figures above come from the notices current when checked (for SSC, the CGL 2025 notice). The notification for your own exam and cycle is the one that counts.

The tools cannot tell whether a photo is recent, looks like you, shows 80% face or has a white enough background, and they cannot guarantee that a portal will accept the file.

Related tools

• Resizers: UPSC, IBPS, NEET, JEE Main, SSC signature, PAN, Passport Seva, GATE, UGC NET, SBI, RRB NTPC signature.
• Signature Extractor & Resizer, Resize Image in KB and Pixels and Compress Image to 50 KB.

Specifications are quoted from the official notices listed below. Re-check the current notification before you submit: these rules change from one application cycle to the next.