Photo and Signature Size for Exam Forms in 2026: IBPS, SBI, SSC, UPSC, GDS and PAN

SSC now captures the candidate's photo live through its own portal, so for SSC exams only the signature is uploaded. PAN portals (Protean and UTIITSL) word their limits slightly differently; the table uses the stricter one.

A specification has two independent parts. The pixel size (for example 200 × 230 px) is the shape and resolution of the picture. The file size (for example 20–50 KB) is how many bytes the saved file takes. Resizing a photo to the right pixels does not guarantee the right file size: two photos of exactly 200 × 230 px can differ in size by several times, depending on the background, lighting and JPEG quality.

Sizes given in centimetres are print sizes. The portal still checks pixels and bytes; centimetre sizes mainly fix the shape (3.5 × 2.5 cm is a portrait rectangle), so crop to that ratio and let the KB limit decide the rest.

A minimum size matters too. A 4 KB signature fails a 10–20 KB rule just as surely as a 40 KB one. Forms use minimums to block blank or unreadable scans, so a tiny file is usually rejected automatically.

1. Take the photo in daylight facing a window, against a plain white or light wall. Shadows and busy backgrounds make the file bigger and the face harder to see.
2. Hold the phone at eye level, about an arm's length away, and leave some space above the head.
3. Open the Exam Photo & Signature Resizer, pick your exam and upload type, and choose the photo.
4. Adjust the crop so the face fills about 70–80% of the height, as on a passport photo.
5. Download the JPG and check the size and dimensions shown under the result before uploading.

The resizer crops to the exact pixel size, then searches for the highest JPEG quality that stays under the maximum. If the result would fall below the minimum, it adds harmless padding inside the file so the portal's size check passes without changing the picture.

• Sign on plain white paper with a black ink pen. Blue ballpoint often scans grey and faint.
• Sign in your normal running hand. Bank exam notices say signatures in capital letters are not accepted.
• Photograph it from directly above in good light, with no shadow from the phone across the paper.
• Use the Signature Resizer: it trims the empty paper around the ink, turns the paper pure white and fits the file into the KB range.

For UPSC, the signature upload is one image with three signatures, one below the other, on a single sheet. Sign three times before you photograph it.

• “File size should be between 20 KB and 50 KB”: the file is outside the range. Process it again with the right preset rather than compressing it twice by hand.
• “Invalid file format”: most portals want .jpg or .jpeg. Photos from iPhones are often HEIC; the tools save JPG.
• “Image dimensions are not proper”: the pixel size is wrong. Use the preset for your exam, not a general resize.
• The photo uploaded but looks stretched in the preview: the original was cropped to the wrong shape. Crop to the form's ratio first; never stretch.