Photo and signature sizes for Indian online forms

The table

Form	File size	Box	Pixels written	DPI	Source · checked
SSC photo	20–50 KB	about 3.5 × 4.5 cm	276 × 354	200	SSC CHSL 2022 examination notice, official PDF on the SSC Karnataka-Kerala regional website; later SSC notices may differ · 18 Oct 2026
SSC signature	10–20 KB	about 4.0 × 2.0 cm	315 × 157	200	SSC CHSL 2022 examination notice, official PDF on the SSC Karnataka-Kerala regional website; later SSC notices may differ · 18 Oct 2026
PAN (Protean / NSDL) photo	up to 20 KB	3.5 × 2.5 cm (height × width) at 200 DPI	197 × 276	200	Protean (NSDL) PAN online application instructions (DSC mode), official page · 18 Oct 2026
PAN (Protean / NSDL) signature	up to 10 KB	2 × 4.5 cm (height × width) at 200 DPI	354 × 157	200	Protean (NSDL) PAN online application instructions (DSC mode), official page · 18 Oct 2026
UPSC photo	20–300 KB	350 × 350 to 1000 × 1000 px	500 × 500	not stated	Secondary summaries of the 2026 online application; not read from the notice itself · 18 Oct 2026 · confirm on the official portal
UPSC signature	20–300 KB	350 × 350 to 1000 × 1000 px	700 × 350	not stated	Secondary summaries of the 2026 online application; not read from the notice itself · 18 Oct 2026 · confirm on the official portal
IBPS (PO / Clerk / RRB) photo	20–50 KB	200 × 230 px	200 × 230	not stated	Widely reported figures from candidate guides; not read from the IBPS notification · 18 Oct 2026 · confirm on the official portal
IBPS (PO / Clerk / RRB) signature	10–20 KB	140 × 60 px	140 × 60	not stated	Widely reported figures from candidate guides; not read from the IBPS notification · 18 Oct 2026 · confirm on the official portal

A box given in centimetres becomes pixels at the stated DPI, or at 200 DPI where the notice states none: 3.5 cm at 200 DPI is 276 pixels. Where a notice gives a range of pixel sizes, the preset writes one size inside it and the checklist accepts the whole range.

Why a file gets rejected

Outside the KB range. Too large is the familiar one; too small is the surprise. A 9 KB photo for a 20–50 KB slot is refused just as firmly as a 2 MB one. The online forms page searches the JPEG quality until the file is inside both limits.

Not really a JPEG. Renaming a PNG, or an iPhone's HEIC, to .jpg changes the name and nothing inside. Portals that check the bytes refuse it. Convert instead.

A placeholder instead of a photo. A file forwarded through a chat app or synced from the cloud can arrive as a 0-byte stub until it downloads. The converter says so rather than writing an empty JPG.

The name. Spaces, brackets, accented or non-English letters and very long names trip some portals. Portal-safe names keep ASCII letters, digits and hyphens, within 50 characters.

The signature. A grey, shadowed photo of a signature is often refused as unclear. The signature page crops to the ink and turns the paper white before sizing it.

Questions

Why does the portal reject a file that looks fine?

Most often it is outside the KB range (too large, or too small), the wrong pixel size, not really a JPEG (a PNG or HEIC renamed to .jpg), a zero-byte placeholder a chat app left behind, or a file name with spaces or non-English letters.

Is a KB 1,000 or 1,024 bytes here?

Portals almost always count 1 KB as 1,024 bytes, the way Windows shows sizes, and the table uses the same. The converter prints the exact byte count of every file as well.

What if my notice says something different from this table?

Follow the notice. Requirements change from one examination cycle to the next. In the Form panel, Custom lets you type the KB range and pixel box from your own notice.

What does “confirm on the official portal” mean on a preset?

Those figures were not read from the official notice itself but from secondary summaries that candidates widely use. They are offered because they are common, and labelled because they are unverified.

Photos stay on your device.