UPSC photo and signature size
Checked on 27 October 2026. A guide from Gauritanaya.
The Civil Services Examination 2026 notification tells candidates to follow the photograph and signature instructions on upsconline.nic.in. The kilobyte and pixel lines below are from that upload instruction, as read on 27 October 2026. An older note on this site said 20–300 KB and 350–1000 px. That is not what the current instruction says. If the portal and this page disagree, the portal wins.
Open the UPSC signature preset
The short answer
The UPSC upload instruction read on 27 October 2026 says:
- Photograph: JPG named photo, 20 KB to 200 KB. Recent, clear, full face, both ears visible, plain white background, face covering at least three quarters of the frame. No pixel size is stated.
- Signature: sign three times, one below the other, in black ink on plain white paper. One JPG named signature, 20 KB to 100 KB, image dimensions 350–500 pixels.
The CSE 2026 notification also requires a live photograph in the Common Application Form. This tool does not capture it.
The instruction says “350–500 pixels” and does not say width × height. The signature preset uses 400 × 450 px, so both sides sit inside that range. Edit it if the upload screen rejects it. The photograph preset uses 3.5 × 4.5 cm only as a starting crop. That centimetre size is not in the UPSC instruction. The rule UPSC states for the photograph is the KB band and the face rules.
Open the UPSC photo KB range Open the UPSC signature preset
What changed from the old preset
Until this update the resizer used 20–300 KB and a suggested 500 × 500 px photograph. The instruction read on 27 October 2026 uses 20–200 KB for the photograph and 20–100 KB with 350–500 pixels for the signature. Do not keep a file that was made to the old 300 KB ceiling if the portal now stops at 200 KB or 100 KB.
If the portal says the file is too small
Some portals re-check the width and height after you upload, or they strip extra data from the JPEG. When a picture is still under the minimum KB after a high-quality save, the resizer adds blank comment data. That does not change the picture. If the portal removes it, the file can fall under the minimum again. Move Aim for to the right and download again. Use a larger pixel size only when the notice allows it, so the JPEG itself is heavy enough.
Other exams are listed on Exam photo and signature size. The resizer stays at /exam-photo-resizer/.
Limits
The direct PDF link below was slow or unavailable from some checks on 27 October 2026. The figures are from the text of UPSC’s photograph and signature instruction retrieved that day, and from the CSE 2026 notification’s pointer to that instruction. Confirm on upsconline.nic.in before you submit. 3.5 × 4.5 cm is not a UPSC measurement. 400 × 450 px is one reading of “350–500 pixels”, not a second official size. No promise of acceptance.
Sources
- UPSC Civil Services Examination 2026 notification (English). It requires an uploaded photograph, a live photograph, and a signature signed three times, and points to the photo and signature instructions on upsconline.nic.in.
- UPSC instruction: photograph JPG 20–200 KB (no pixels stated); signature JPG 20–100 KB, dimensions 350–500 pixels, three signatures. File name instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf on the candidate portal.
- UPSC online portal, where the same instruction is linked under photos and signature.
- Exam photo resizer
Sources checked on 27 October 2026 (Asia/Calcutta). Where a notice and this page disagree, the notice wins.