NEET, JEE, SSC, IBPS, RRB and PAN photo and signature sizes for 2026 forms

The upload step is where a lot of forms go wrong. You fill in every field, pick your photo, and the portal says "file size not within limits". Nothing else. No hint about what it wants.

The rules are in each exam's official notice. They are just hard to find, and every exam uses different numbers. We read the notices and wrote down only what they actually print. Where a notice gives no number, we say so.

The sizes at a glance

The full details

NEET (UG) 2026. NTA Information Bulletin, February 2026. Photo: JPG/JPEG, colour or black and white, 10 KB to 200 KB. No pixel or cm size is given. About 80% of the image must be your face, without a mask, ears visible, white background. The form also takes a live photo through your camera. That is separate. Signature: JPG/JPEG, 10 KB to 100 KB. Finger and thumb impressions (left and right hand): JPG/JPEG, 10 KB to 200 KB. Class 10 certificate and other documents: PDF, 50 KB to 300 KB.

JEE (Main) 2026. NTA Information Bulletin, November 2025. Photo: JPG/JPEG, colour, 10 KB to 200 KB, with the same face and background rules as NEET. You also upload a live photograph taken while filling the form. Signature: JPG/JPEG, 10 KB to 100 KB. Identity proof, only if you do not verify through Aadhaar or DigiLocker: JPG/JPEG, 10 KB to 200 KB. Class 10 and disability certificates: PDF, 50 KB to 300 KB.

SSC CGL 2026. Notice dated 21 May 2026. There is no photo file. The application captures a live photo through your webcam or phone camera, and a picture of a printed photo gets the form rejected. Signature: JPEG/JPG, 10 KB to 20 KB. Para 9.6 says about 6.0 cm wide and 2.0 cm tall. The how-to-apply annexure of the same notice says about 4.0 by 2.0 cm.

IBPS PO/MT-XVI. Detailed notification, 30 June 2026. Photo: JPG/JPEG, 20 KB to 50 KB, 200 × 230 pixels preferred, light background (white preferred). Signature: JPG/JPEG, 10 KB to 20 KB, 140 × 60 pixels preferred, black ink on white paper, not in capital letters. Left thumb impression: 20 KB to 50 KB, 240 × 240 pixels preferred. Hand-written declaration: 50 KB to 100 KB, 800 × 400 pixels preferred. Certificates: PDF on A4, up to 500 KB.

RRB NTPC (Graduate), CEN 06/2026. Published 7 October 2026. There is no photo file. A live photo is captured against a plain white background. Signature: JPG/JPEG only, 30 KB to 49 KB, at least 140 × 60 pixels, scanned at 100 DPI or more, black ink, running handwriting. SC/ST certificate (only for the free travel pass): PDF, less than 400 KB.

PAN, Form 49A on Protean (formerly NSDL). Photo: JPEG, colour, 200 DPI, up to 20 KB, 3.5 × 2.5 cm (portrait). Signature: JPEG, colour, 200 DPI, up to 10 KB, 2 × 4.5 cm (a wide strip). Proof documents: PDF/A or JPEG, black and white, 200 DPI, up to 300 KB per page.

Official sources

• NEET (UG) 2026 Information Bulletin
• JEE (Main) 2026 Information Bulletin
• SSC CGL 2026 notice
• IBPS PO/MT-XVI detailed notification
• RRB CEN 06/2026 (NTPC Graduate)
• Protean Form 49A guidelines

What people miss

Most limits have a floor. NEET and JEE want at least 10 KB. IBPS wants at least 20 KB for the photo, and RRB wants at least 30 KB for the signature. So compressing "a bit more, just to be safe" can get your file refused for being too small.

NTA gives no pixel sizes. You will find blogs quoting exact pixels for NEET. They are not in the bulletin. Match the file size, the JPG format and the framing instead.

SSC and RRB don't want a photo file at all. If you are preparing one for those forms, stop. Spend that time on good light for the live capture.

The SSC notice disagrees with itself on the signature width. It says "about" both times, so the file size is the part to get exactly right.

Getting it right, step by step

1. Start with a good original. Stand in front of a plain white or light wall, in daylight. Face the camera straight on, with both ears visible. For the signature, use plain white paper and a black pen, and write a little larger than usual. IBPS says no capitals, and RRB asks for running handwriting.
2. Crop first. Cut out the table, your fingers and the dark edge of the paper. Extra area costs bytes.
3. Save as JPG. iPhones often save HEIC, and screenshots are PNG. All six forms above want JPG or JPEG for photos and signatures.
4. Bring it into the range. Trial and error in a phone editor is slow. A tool that takes both a minimum and a maximum in KB is quicker. Our exam photo and signature resizer has a preset for each exam above, built from the same notices, and it runs in your browser rather than uploading the image. For a form we haven't covered, resize image to 20KB lets you type your own limits.
5. Check before you upload. The size in KB should sit inside the range, not just under the top. Make sure it ends in .jpg. Zoom in on the face or the ink. If the signature looks faint, sign again with a darker pen. Compressing the same file twice won't fix it.
6. Keep the files. NTA asks you to use the same photo at later stages. Put the final versions somewhere you will still have them in a few months.

One last thing

All of this was read from the notices on 11 October 2026. Limits change between cycles, sometimes within a year. Before you upload, open the notice for your form and search it for "KB". It takes a minute. If you spot something here that is out of date, write to support@taskninja.ai and we'll fix it.

Written by the TaskNinja team with help from an AI writing tool, then checked line by line against the official notices. The tool links go to our own free tools.