UPSC photo and signature rules
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) checks every uploaded photo and signature, and rejects applications that do not meet its rules. These come from UPSC’s “Instructions for uploading the photo & signature” for online applications, read on 28 October 2026 from the Internet Archive copy of 29 July 2026 (the file has since moved on the UPSC site). Always read the instructions linked from your own exam notice on upsconline.
| Upload | Rule |
|---|---|
| Photograph | Colour, JPG, 20–200 KB, file name “photo” |
| Face | Covers at least 75% (3/4) of the photo, head centred and straight, both ear lobes visible |
| Background | Plain white, no shadows on the face or background |
| Expression and eyes | Natural (no grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows), eyes open, not covered by hair |
| Not allowed | Dark background, uniform, coloured or dark glasses, glare on glasses, a signed photo |
| Live photo | Captured during the application with a webcam or phone, and matched with the uploaded photo |
| Signature | Signed three times, one below the other, black ink, plain white paper, one scan |
| Signature file | JPG named “signature”, 20–100 KB, 350–500 pixels |
Step 1: the photograph
UPSC’s “3/4 face coverage” rule is the one most people miss. A normal passport photo shows the head and shoulders with space around them; UPSC wants a close crop where the face fills most of the frame. The sample photos in UPSC’s instructions are rejected for “face coverage less than 3/4” when there is too much background, and also when the face is so close that the ears are cut off.
The guide in this tool is set for that: the top line marks the top of your head and the shaded band puts your chin so the head fills 80–90% of the height, with the face centred. Zoom in until your face sits between them, keeping both ears inside the frame.
Download photo.jpg saves your crop at 350 × 450 pixels (a passport-size shape). A colour photo at that size is normally between 40 and 100 KB, inside the 20–200 KB range. If it would ever go over 200 KB, the tool lowers the JPG quality slightly; if it is under 20 KB, it saves at maximum quality. The file is already named “photo.jpg”, as UPSC asks.
Step 2: the triple signature
- On a plain white sheet (no lines), sign three times, one below the other, in black ink, with a clear gap between signatures. Sign as you normally do.
- Photograph the sheet from directly above in good light, or scan it.
- Add the photo in Step 2 below the photo tool. The tool:
- makes the paper white and the ink darker (phone photos of paper are usually grey),
- crops to the three signatures with a small margin,
- fits them within 500 × 500 pixels and pads with white so neither side is under 350 pixels.
- Download signature.jpg. The size line underneath shows the file size; it should read between 20 and 100 KB.
If the signature file comes out under 20 KB (a very clean, small signature compresses extremely well), untick Make the paper white to keep a little paper texture, or photograph the signatures larger, and save again.
Worked example
A candidate applying for the Civil Services (Preliminary) examination:
- Takes a photo against a white wall in daylight, glasses off, and zooms in until the face fills the frame from just above the hair to the chin band. photo.jpg is 350 × 450 pixels, for example about 60 KB.
- Signs three times on printer paper, photographs it, and adds it in Step 2. signature.jpg comes out at, say, 420 × 500 pixels and a few dozen KB; the size line confirms it is within 20–100 KB.
- Uploads both files in the application, then captures the live photo when prompted, in the same lighting and without glasses so the two photos match.
Tips that avoid rejection
- Use a recent photo: the live photo is compared with it.
- No caps, no dark glasses, no uniform, nothing written or signed on the photo.
- Keep both ear lobes visible and look straight at the camera.
- Do not stretch a tiny photo to fit; start from the original phone or camera photo.
- For the photo ID document (PDF), combine scans with JPG to PDF.
Other exams
SSC captures a live photo and asks for a 10–20 KB signature: see SSC Photo Resizer. For forms with other KB limits, try Compress Image to 200 KB or Compress Image to 100 KB. Your photo and signature are processed in your browser and never uploaded.