UPSC Photo & Signature Resizer

UPSC applications are filled online, and many candidates now register through the One Time Registration (OTR) system first. Either way you will be asked for a recent photograph and a signature in JPEG format. The values below are the ones commonly quoted for these uploads, and they are the starting values in this tool.

UPSC changes its instructions between notifications, so read the guidance on the page where you apply and use the Customise section if your numbers differ.

The tool follows numbers, so it fits any UPSC process that asks for these two images. That includes the Civil Services Examination (IAS, IPS, IFS), the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy exam, the Combined Defence Services exam, the Engineering Services Examination, the Combined Medical Services exam, the Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandant) exam and several recruitment tests run through the same portal.

If you register once through OTR, the same photograph and signature are reused for later applications, which is a good reason to prepare them carefully the first time.

1. Select Photo. Upload a clear recent portrait and centre your face in the crop frame.
2. Add the strip only if asked. Switch on the name and date strip when your notice requires it and type both in the way it shows.
3. Check the checks. The size and dimensions chips should both be green.
4. Download, then choose Signature. Photograph your signature on white paper, crop close and keep ink clean-up on.
5. Save the pair. Use the ZIP button to keep both files together for the application.

Stand facing a window so the light falls evenly on your face, with a plain light wall behind you. Look straight at the lens with a natural expression and keep your whole face visible, without a cap or tinted glasses unless your notice allows them.

• Keep it recent. The picture should look like you now, because it is compared with you on exam day.
• Check the background. A cluttered wall can be fixed with our background remover.
• Avoid filters. Beauty effects and heavy retouching can lead to problems later.
• Match your admit card. The same picture will appear on your e-admit card and attendance sheet.

Sign with a dark pen on plain white paper and photograph it from straight above in daylight, so no shadow falls across the ink. Crop close, leaving only a thin margin, and use ink clean-up to whiten the paper and darken the strokes.

Your signature on the application should look like the one you will use in the examination hall. Check the notice about block capitals as well, because some instructions ask candidates to sign in their normal running hand instead.

Some UPSC notices have asked candidates to show their name and the date the photograph was taken on the picture itself. Others have not. Read the instructions for your exam carefully. If a strip is required, switch it on, type your name and the date in the style the notice shows, and the strip height adjusts to your text. If it is not required, leave it off and keep the picture clean.

• The file is outside the allowed KB range.
• The photo is stretched because it was resized without cropping.
• The picture is blurry, dark or taken in front of a busy background.
• The signature is faint, tiny or crossed by a shadow.
• The file was saved in a format other than JPEG.

The live checks catch the first three problems before you reach the upload page.

Your photograph and signature are processed inside your browser, so they are never uploaded to our servers. When a file is ready you can download it, collect both files into one ZIP, or use Share to send it with a link to this page through any app on your phone. Delete shared copies from chats afterwards, since these are personal documents.