Photo and signature in one JPG for online forms: how to make it

The short answer

Some forms want one JPG with your photo and your signature in the same picture.

Other forms want two files. Do not join them if the form has two upload boxes.

Read the form first. Then follow the steps below.

The pictures stay on your device.

One file or two?

The list of exam guides is on Exam photo and signature size. Each page names the notice it checked. This page does not repeat those sizes.

Pixels, KB and DPI are explained in Photo and signature rules: pixels, KB and DPI.

Keep these ready

• A colour photo, face clear, plain background if the form says so.
• A signature in blue or black ink on white paper. Take the photo in good light.
• The width, height and file size written on your form.

If the photo has a lot of background, crop it first with Crop image.

If the signature has a thick shadow, crop that too, so only the ink remains.

Step by step

1. Open Join photo and signature.
2. Choose the photo. Then choose the signature.
3. Type the width and height in pixels only when the form gives pixels. If the form gives centimetres, millimetres or inches, set that unit in the exam photo resizer. Do not type a pixel size the form did not give.
4. Set Signature part. That is how much of the height the signature uses. Start near a quarter of the height. You can change it.
5. Type the minimum KB and maximum KB from the form. If the form gives no KB band, do not copy a number from another exam.
6. Tick the thin line only if you want a line between the photo and the signature. The form rarely asks for it.
7. Tap Create image. Download the JPG.

The photo sits on top. The signature sits below it. Both are in one JPG.

If the file is the wrong size

• Too many KB: lower the maximum, or crop the photo tighter, then create the image again.
• Under the minimum KB: raise the quality by setting a higher minimum, then create it again.
• The face is cut off: crop a taller photo first, then join again.
• The signature is too small to read: raise Signature part a little.

You can also resize first with Resize image, or hit a KB target with Compress image to KB.

For a form that wants two separate files, use Exam photo resizer and the exam’s own guide. Do not use the joined JPG there.

Check before you upload

1. Open the JPG.
2. Zoom in. The face is clear. The signature is readable.
3. The file is a JPG, if that is what the form asked for.
4. The size on disk is inside the form’s KB line.

If the upload fails, read Why your upload was rejected.

A document that must be a PDF, not a photo, is a different job. Use How to make documents under 200 KB.