Photo and Signature Size for All Exams – SSC, IBPS, SBI, NEET, JEE, UPSC (Complete List)

Every government exam application form in India asks you to upload two small images: your photo and your signature. But they are not accepted in any size — each exam asks for an exact file size in kilobytes (KB), and sometimes an exact pixel size too. If your photo is even 1 KB above the limit, the portal can reject it. And some portals also reject a file that is below the minimum size. This is one of the most common reasons students get stuck on the last day of applying, running around to fix a photo at the last minute.

This page collects the photo and signature sizes from recent official notifications of the major exams — IBPS, SBI, SSC, NTA exams like NEET and JEE, and PAN card applications — in one simple table. Sizes change with every new notification, so always confirm the numbers in your exam’s official notification PDF. This guide is only a summary to help you prepare.

Photo and signature size — complete table

Exam	Photo	Signature
IBPS PO / Clerk	20–50 KB, 200×230 px	10–20 KB, 140×60 px
SBI PO / Clerk	20–50 KB, 200×230 px	10–20 KB, 140×60 px
NTA exams (NEET, JEE Main, CUET)	10–200 KB	4–30 KB
SSC exams	In recent SSC cycles the photo is captured live during the application — follow your notification’s instructions for the photo	10–20 KB
PAN card application	Under 50 KB	—

Note the difference between a range like 20–50 KB and a simple maximum like under 50 KB. When a form says 20–50 KB, both limits matter: a 15 KB photo is also wrong, even though it is small. When a form says only a maximum (for example, under 50 KB), then anything below it works — but it still must be a clear photo. This small detail is where most rejections happen, so read your notification’s exact wording carefully.

Photo rules almost every exam follows

Beyond the file size, every exam has basic photo rules that are nearly the same everywhere. Keep these in mind before you upload:

Use a recent colour photo. Most notifications say the photo should be taken within the last few months — an old photo that no longer looks like you can cause problems at the exam hall, where the examiner compares your face with the photo on your admit card.
Plain light or white background. A busy background — curtains, doors, a street — is one of the fastest ways to get rejected or flagged.
Face clearly visible. Look straight at the camera, both eyes open, with your full face in the frame. Do not crop so tight that the chin or forehead goes out of the photo.
No cap or sunglasses. Ordinary headgear and dark glasses are not allowed. Rules for religious headwear vary from exam to exam, so check your notification.
Do not use a photo that is too old. If you have changed your hairstyle, grown a beard, or simply look different from the photo, take a fresh one. It takes two minutes and avoids exam-day stress.

Signature rules

The signature rules are stricter than most students expect. Take them seriously:

Sign with a black or blue pen on plain white paper. A pencil signature or a coloured marker does not scan well, and lined or coloured paper creates patterns that look bad after compression.
Sign in running handwriting, not capital letters. Writing your name in block capitals is a common reason signatures are rejected — use your normal flowing signature.
Match your documents. The signature on the application should match the one on your ID documents and the signature you will put on the attendance sheet in the exam hall. If you change your signature style now, you are creating problems for yourself later.
Keep it readable at small size. Your signature will be shrunk to about 140 × 60 pixels — roughly the size of a postage stamp. Sign clearly and a little large, then reduce it; a thin, tiny signature can become an unreadable blur at that size.

How to fix your photo in 1 minute

You do not need any app or a computer shop for this. Our free tools do it in about a minute, right on your phone:

Open the Compress Photo to Exact KB tool, select your photo, choose the target size your form needs (for example 20 KB, 50 KB, 100 KB or 200 KB), and download the result.
For signatures, open the Signature Resizer, upload your signature photo, and resize it to 10–20 KB at 140 × 60 pixels.
Your file never gets uploaded anywhere — everything happens inside your browser, on your own device. The tool tells you the final KB size before you download, so you know it is inside the limit.

Start from your original camera photo whenever possible. Every time a photo is re-saved — for example, forwarded through a chat app several times — it loses quality. Compressing once, directly from the original to the exact target size, gives the clearest result.

Common rejection reasons

Here are the reasons photos and signatures are actually rejected, in the order we see them most often:

File above or below the KB limit (for example, 55 KB when the limit is 50 KB, or 15 KB when the form needs 20–50 KB).
Wrong pixel size (for example, a square photo when the form asks for 200 × 230 pixels).
Blurry or dark photo.
Photo with a busy background.
Signature in capital letters instead of running handwriting.
Signature on lined or ruled paper.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if my photo is 55 KB when the limit is 50 KB?
The portal will reject it — compress it to just below the limit. Our photo compressor tool can make it exactly 50 KB in one click.

Can I use a selfie as my exam photo?
Only if it follows all the rules — plain background, clear face, proper size — but a proper passport-style photo is safer. Selfies often fail on background and framing.

Where do I check the final rules?
In the official notification PDF of your exam. This page only summarises recent notifications so you can prepare in advance.

Rules change with every notification, so always confirm the sizes in your exam’s official notification before you apply. MiniAppStar is not a government website — see our Disclaimer for more details.