Photo size requirements: SSC, UPSC, PAN, Passport Seva & DV Lottery (2026)
Every major Indian government portal enforces its own photo and signature upload rules, and they are all different. This page collects them in one place, as compiled from the July 2026 notices and portal guidance. Requirements change between recruitment cycles — always confirm the current official notification before you submit. When a spec here disagrees with your notification, your notification wins.
Each portal below links to a preset that configures our compressor with the right file size and pixel dimensions in one click. Everything runs in your browser; your photo never leaves your device.
SSC (CGL, CHSL, GD, MTS…)
| Item | Photo | Signature |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 3.5 × 4.5 cm (≈413 × 531 px @ 300 DPI) | 4 × 2 cm (≈472 × 236 px @ 300 DPI) |
| File size | 20–50 KB | 10–20 KB |
| Format | JPEG/JPG only | JPEG/JPG only |
| Content rules | Recent (≤3 months) with the date printed on the photo | Black ink, running handwriting — not block capitals |
Note the minimums: a 12 KB photo fails just as surely as a 60 KB one. Aim mid-band — our SSC preset targets 45 KB for the photo and warns you if a result drops below the floor.
UPSC (Civil Services and other examinations)
| Item | Photo | Signature |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | Not fixed in pixels — face must cover ~75% of the frame, head centered, both ears visible | 350–500 px |
| File size | 20–200 KB (some notices allow up to 300 KB) | 20–100 KB |
| Format | JPG, saved with filename “photo” | JPG |
| Content rules | Colour, plain white background | — |
UPSC judges the content of the photo more than its geometry. Crop to the face-coverage rule first, then let the UPSC preset handle the byte target.
PAN card (NSDL/Protean & UTIITSL)
| Item | Photo | Signature |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 3.5 × 2.5 cm (≈413 × 295 px @ 300 DPI) | Rectangular crop of the ink |
| File size | Under 50 KB | Under 50 KB |
| Format | JPEG/JPG | JPEG/JPG |
| Content rules | Colour, white/light background, face centered | Black or dark-blue ink on white paper |
The PAN photo box is a different shape from every other portal — wider relative to its height. Squeezing a passport-style 3.5 × 4.5 photo into it distorts your face and gets flagged. The PAN preset center-crops to the correct proportions instead.
Passport Seva
| Item | Photo | Signature |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | Exactly 630 × 810 px | Rectangular crop |
| File size | Under 250 KB | Under 100 KB |
| Format | JPEG | JPEG |
| Content rules | White background, face covering 80–85% of the frame | Black/blue bold pen on white paper |
Passport Seva is the strictest of the set: the pixel dimensions are validated exactly, and you get 12 upload attempts per application. Preview locally with the Passport Seva preset until it’s right, then spend one attempt.
US DV Lottery (Green Card)
| Item | Photo |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | Square, 600 × 600 px minimum (up to 1200 × 1200) |
| File size | 240 KB maximum |
| Format | JPEG, full colour (24-bit) — black-and-white rejected |
| Content rules | Head 50–69% of frame height · white/off-white background · taken within 6 months · no digital enhancement |
The E-DV portal’s mechanical checks (square, ≥600 px, ≤240 KB, JPEG) are exactly what the DV Lottery preset produces. The content rules — head size, background, no retouching — you handle when shooting; altered photos can disqualify the whole entry.
The pattern behind all of them
Once you’ve seen a few portals, the rules rhyme:
- JPEG only. Portals were built on JPEG and most reject PNG and WebP outright. (Our format guide covers when the other formats are the right choice.)
- Bands, not just caps. Many limits have a floor as well as a ceiling, because a suspiciously tiny file usually means an unusably low-quality image. Aim for the middle.
- Dimensions and bytes are separate checks. A file can pass the KB check and fail the pixel check, or vice versa. You need both right — which is why our portal presets set both. The difference is explained in resize vs compress.
- Content rules are enforced by humans. Size checks are automated, but background, ink colour and photo age are reviewed by people later. Passing upload validation is necessary, not sufficient — see why photo uploads get rejected.
Why we built the presets this way
Generic compressors make you translate a notification’s legalese (“3.5cm × 4.5cm, 20 to 50 KB, JPEG, recent photograph with date”) into tool settings. Each preset on this site encodes one portal’s full specification — byte band, exact pixels, cropping behaviour, minimum-size warning — so the translation is already done. And because the compression runs on your own device, the photo attached to your legal identity stays where it belongs: with you.