What is the UPSC CSE photo size in KB?

JPG, 20 to 200 KB. Plain white background, frontal full face with both ears visible, eyes open and not covered by hair, no shadows, no uniform, no dark glasses. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.

How do I reduce a photo to under 200 KB for UPSC CSE?

Keep the pixel size the notice asks for and lower the JPEG quality until the file lands between 20 KB and 200 KB - that is the range Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) accepts. The resizer on this page does exactly that: it draws your photo onto a the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none canvas without cropping it, then binary-searches JPEG quality for the highest setting whose file still fits the range. Re-scanning at a lower DPI or fewer colours is the other route the notice itself suggests.

What is the UPSC CSE signature size in KB?

JPG, 20 to 100 KB, 350 to 500 px (the instruction sheet does not name the axis). Sign three times vertically, one below the other, on plain white paper with black ink, then scan all three into a single image.

Does UPSC CSE need a live photo as well as an uploaded one?

UPSC needs two photographs. A passport-size photo file is uploaded, and a live photograph is captured in the form (webcam or QR-code mobile capture). The two are matched; on a mismatch the application cannot proceed. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.

Does the UPSC CSE photo have to be recent?

The instruction sheet asks for a photograph that is "clear, recent" but sets no cut-off date after which it must have been taken. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.

Does the UPSC CSE photo need the name and date printed on it?

Not required by the instruction sheet. It sets face coverage, background and format rules, and states in as many words that the photograph is NOT to be signed. There is no name-and-date printing line in it. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.

UPSC CSE photo and signature size

Civil Services Examination, 2026 (Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE) · Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

UPSC CSE needs a photograph in JPG, 20 to 200 KB, and a signature in JPG, 20 to 100 KB, 350 to 500 px (the instruction sheet does not name the axis). A live photograph is captured inside the form as well, and matched against the file you upload. Those figures are read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, checked on 29 Jul 2026. The table below and the resizer on this page are generated from that one record, so the specification shown and the target the tool encodes to cannot disagree.

Source: UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) (upsconline.nic.in), checked 29 Jul 2026.

Resize to the UPSC CSE target

Runs in this browser. The file never leaves the device.

Which file are you fixing?

Your passport-size photograph file

Target from the notice

JPG - 20 to 200 KB

File size produced

—

20 to 200 KB is what the notice allows

Canvas: —
JPEG quality found: —
Search steps: —
Pixel size comes from: —

UPSC CSE upload specification

UPSC CSE photograph and signature upload specification: file, format, file size, dimensions and scan resolution
File	Format	File size	Dimensions	Scan resolution
Passport-size photograph	JPG	20 to 200 KB	the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none	Not specified
Signature (three signatures in one image)	JPG	20 to 100 KB	350 to 500 px (the instruction sheet does not name the axis)	Not specified

Other UPSC CSE photograph rules printed in the same notice
Rule	What the notice says
Background and framing	Plain white background, frontal full face with both ears visible, eyes open and not covered by hair, no shadows, no uniform, no dark glasses.
Name and date printed on the photo	Not required by the instruction sheet. It sets face coverage, background and format rules, and states in as many words that the photograph is NOT to be signed. There is no name-and-date printing line in it.
How recent the photograph must be	The instruction sheet asks for a photograph that is "clear, recent" but sets no cut-off date after which it must have been taken.
How the photograph is taken	UPSC needs two photographs. A passport-size photo file is uploaded, and a live photograph is captured in the form (webcam or QR-code mobile capture). The two are matched; on a mismatch the application cannot proceed.

What the notice adds, file by file

Passport-size photograph: The face must cover at least 75% (three-quarters) of the photo area.
Passport-size photograph: The file must be named 'photo'.
Passport-size photograph: The instruction sheet sets no pixel dimensions for the photograph, only the KB range and the face-coverage rule.
Signature (three signatures in one image): Sign three times vertically, one below the other, on plain white paper with black ink, then scan all three into a single image.
Signature (three signatures in one image): The instruction sheet states 'Image dimensions: 350 - 500 pixels' without naming an axis; this tool targets 400 px on the long edge, inside that band.
Signature (three signatures in one image): The file must be named 'signature'.

Also in this notice

Capture of the live photograph is mandatory for submitting the application for any UPSC examination.

Embed this resizer

Put the live UPSC CSEresizer on your own page with one snippet — free, responsive, light and dark. It resizes in the reader’s browser, so no file is uploaded to you or to us. Keep the “Widget by AltFTool” credit link visible.

<iframe src="https://www.altftool.com/embed/widget/exam-photo/upsc-cse"
  title="UPSC CSE photo &amp; signature resizer — free AltFTool widget"
  width="100%" height="900" style="border:0;border-radius:12px"
  loading="lazy" scrolling="yes" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0">Widget by <a href="https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=widget" rel="nofollow">AltFTool — free online tools</a></p>

Browse every embeddable AltFTool widget

Where these figures come from

UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules)

Document date: 4 Feb 2026
Read on: 29 Jul 2026
Status: Read from the official PDF

The CSE 2026 notice defers the photo and signature rules to this instruction sheet, and the figures below were read from the instruction sheet itself. The sheet prints no date in its own text; the date shown is the PDF's creation date, 04.02.2026, which matches the date of the CSE 2026 notice.

Document: https://upsconline.nic.in/ngrp/assets/PDF/instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf

Who lands on this page

The upsconline.nic.in upload gate rejected a file and the exact KB range is needed.
A scan is larger than the ceiling Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) sets and has to come down without changing the pixel size.
A UPSC CSE form asks for passport-size photograph, signature (three signatures in one image) and each one has a different limit.
A specification found on a coaching site needs checking against the notification it claims to quote.

How the resizer hits the target

Pick the file you are fixing: UPSC CSE accepts passport-size photograph, signature (three signatures in one image).
Choose the scan or photo from the device. It is decoded in the browser and never uploaded.
The image is drawn onto a white canvas with its aspect ratio kept, so nothing is cropped or stretched. Canvas size: the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none.
A binary search over JPEG quality finds the highest quality whose encoded file still sits between 20 KB and 200 KB.
Check the pass or fail line for each rule, then download the JPEG and upload it at upsconline.nic.in.

How this page is built

The spec and the tool are the same record: The table above and the resizer preset are generated from one entry, so the UPSC CSE target shown is the target the tool encodes to.
Every row is dated: Each figure carries the document it came from (UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules)) and the date that document was read (29 Jul 2026), so a row that goes out of date reads as a dated fact rather than a wrong one.
The file never leaves the device: Decoding, resizing and JPEG encoding all happen in the browser through a canvas; nothing is uploaded to a server.
The size is searched, not guessed: A binary search over JPEG quality finds the highest quality whose encoded size still sits inside the range, then reports the size, the quality and the number of steps it took.

Questions people ask about the UPSC CSE photo size

What is the UPSC CSE photo size in KB?: JPG, 20 to 200 KB. Plain white background, frontal full face with both ears visible, eyes open and not covered by hair, no shadows, no uniform, no dark glasses. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
How do I reduce a photo to under 200 KB for UPSC CSE?: Keep the pixel size the notice asks for and lower the JPEG quality until the file lands between 20 KB and 200 KB - that is the range Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) accepts. The resizer on this page does exactly that: it draws your photo onto a the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none canvas without cropping it, then binary-searches JPEG quality for the highest setting whose file still fits the range. Re-scanning at a lower DPI or fewer colours is the other route the notice itself suggests.
What is the UPSC CSE signature size in KB?: JPG, 20 to 100 KB, 350 to 500 px (the instruction sheet does not name the axis). Sign three times vertically, one below the other, on plain white paper with black ink, then scan all three into a single image.
Does UPSC CSE need a live photo as well as an uploaded one?: UPSC needs two photographs. A passport-size photo file is uploaded, and a live photograph is captured in the form (webcam or QR-code mobile capture). The two are matched; on a mismatch the application cannot proceed. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
Does the UPSC CSE photo have to be recent?: The instruction sheet asks for a photograph that is "clear, recent" but sets no cut-off date after which it must have been taken. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
Does the UPSC CSE photo need the name and date printed on it?: Not required by the instruction sheet. It sets face coverage, background and format rules, and states in as many words that the photograph is NOT to be signed. There is no name-and-date printing line in it. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
Which notification are these UPSC CSE specs from?: UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026. It was opened and read on 29 Jul 2026. The figures were read from that document itself. The CSE 2026 notice defers the photo and signature rules to this instruction sheet, and the figures below were read from the instruction sheet itself. The sheet prints no date in its own text; the date shown is the PDF's creation date, 04.02.2026, which matches the date of the CSE 2026 notice.

Other exam specs

Check this against the notice you are applying under

This page is not an authority on the UPSC CSE specification and does not replace the notification. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) revises these rules from one cycle to the next, and the figures here were read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) on 29 Jul 2026 - they describe that document on that date, nothing more. Before you upload anything, open the notice itself and confirm the numbers. Where the notice and this page disagree, the notice governs your application.

Cite this page

APA, MLA, BibTeX

Quote anything on this page with a credit. The date below is the date this page's data was read, not the date you are reading it — cite it alongside any figure you take from here, because these numbers move.

Canonical URL

https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse

Author and publisher

AltFTool — no individual author is credited on this page.

Notification read on

29 July 2026

Underlying source

UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) — issued 4 February 2026upsconline.nic.in/ngrp/assets/PDF/instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf

APA

AltFTool. (2026, July 29). UPSC CSE photo and signature size. https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse

MLA

"UPSC CSE photo and signature size." AltFTool, 29 July 2026, www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse.

BibTeX

@misc{altftool-exam-photo-upsc-cse,
  author       = {{AltFTool}},
  title        = {{UPSC CSE photo and signature size}},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jul},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse}},
  note         = {Notification read on 2026-07-29. Source: UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo \& Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) (issued 2026-02-04): \url{https://upsconline.nic.in/ngrp/assets/PDF/instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf}.}
}

Read from the official PDF. The CSE 2026 notice defers the photo and signature rules to this instruction sheet, and the figures below were read from the instruction sheet itself. The sheet prints no date in its own text; the date shown is the PDF's creation date, 04.02.2026, which matches the date of the CSE 2026 notice. Cite UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) alongside this page - where the notice and this page disagree, the notice governs.

Loading page

UPSC CSE photo and signature size

Civil Services Examination, 2026 (Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE) · Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

Source: UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) (upsconline.nic.in), checked 29 Jul 2026.

Resize to the UPSC CSE target

Runs in this browser. The file never leaves the device.

Which file are you fixing?

Your passport-size photograph file

Target from the notice

JPG - 20 to 200 KB

File size produced

—

20 to 200 KB is what the notice allows

Canvas: —
JPEG quality found: —
Search steps: —
Pixel size comes from: —

UPSC CSE upload specification

UPSC CSE photograph and signature upload specification: file, format, file size, dimensions and scan resolution
File	Format	File size	Dimensions	Scan resolution
Passport-size photograph	JPG	20 to 200 KB	the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none	Not specified
Signature (three signatures in one image)	JPG	20 to 100 KB	350 to 500 px (the instruction sheet does not name the axis)	Not specified

Other UPSC CSE photograph rules printed in the same notice
Rule	What the notice says
Background and framing	Plain white background, frontal full face with both ears visible, eyes open and not covered by hair, no shadows, no uniform, no dark glasses.
Name and date printed on the photo	Not required by the instruction sheet. It sets face coverage, background and format rules, and states in as many words that the photograph is NOT to be signed. There is no name-and-date printing line in it.
How recent the photograph must be	The instruction sheet asks for a photograph that is "clear, recent" but sets no cut-off date after which it must have been taken.
How the photograph is taken	UPSC needs two photographs. A passport-size photo file is uploaded, and a live photograph is captured in the form (webcam or QR-code mobile capture). The two are matched; on a mismatch the application cannot proceed.

What the notice adds, file by file

Passport-size photograph: The face must cover at least 75% (three-quarters) of the photo area.
Passport-size photograph: The file must be named 'photo'.
Passport-size photograph: The instruction sheet sets no pixel dimensions for the photograph, only the KB range and the face-coverage rule.
Signature (three signatures in one image): Sign three times vertically, one below the other, on plain white paper with black ink, then scan all three into a single image.
Signature (three signatures in one image): The instruction sheet states 'Image dimensions: 350 - 500 pixels' without naming an axis; this tool targets 400 px on the long edge, inside that band.
Signature (three signatures in one image): The file must be named 'signature'.

Also in this notice

Capture of the live photograph is mandatory for submitting the application for any UPSC examination.

Embed this resizer

<iframe src="https://www.altftool.com/embed/widget/exam-photo/upsc-cse"
  title="UPSC CSE photo &amp; signature resizer — free AltFTool widget"
  width="100%" height="900" style="border:0;border-radius:12px"
  loading="lazy" scrolling="yes" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0">Widget by <a href="https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=widget" rel="nofollow">AltFTool — free online tools</a></p>

Browse every embeddable AltFTool widget

Where these figures come from

UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules)

Document date: 4 Feb 2026
Read on: 29 Jul 2026
Status: Read from the official PDF

Document: https://upsconline.nic.in/ngrp/assets/PDF/instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf

Who lands on this page

The upsconline.nic.in upload gate rejected a file and the exact KB range is needed.
A scan is larger than the ceiling Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) sets and has to come down without changing the pixel size.
A UPSC CSE form asks for passport-size photograph, signature (three signatures in one image) and each one has a different limit.
A specification found on a coaching site needs checking against the notification it claims to quote.

How the resizer hits the target

Pick the file you are fixing: UPSC CSE accepts passport-size photograph, signature (three signatures in one image).
Choose the scan or photo from the device. It is decoded in the browser and never uploaded.
The image is drawn onto a white canvas with its aspect ratio kept, so nothing is cropped or stretched. Canvas size: the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none.
A binary search over JPEG quality finds the highest quality whose encoded file still sits between 20 KB and 200 KB.
Check the pass or fail line for each rule, then download the JPEG and upload it at upsconline.nic.in.

How this page is built

The spec and the tool are the same record: The table above and the resizer preset are generated from one entry, so the UPSC CSE target shown is the target the tool encodes to.
Every row is dated: Each figure carries the document it came from (UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules)) and the date that document was read (29 Jul 2026), so a row that goes out of date reads as a dated fact rather than a wrong one.
The file never leaves the device: Decoding, resizing and JPEG encoding all happen in the browser through a canvas; nothing is uploaded to a server.
The size is searched, not guessed: A binary search over JPEG quality finds the highest quality whose encoded size still sits inside the range, then reports the size, the quality and the number of steps it took.

Questions people ask about the UPSC CSE photo size

What is the UPSC CSE photo size in KB?: JPG, 20 to 200 KB. Plain white background, frontal full face with both ears visible, eyes open and not covered by hair, no shadows, no uniform, no dark glasses. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
How do I reduce a photo to under 200 KB for UPSC CSE?: Keep the pixel size the notice asks for and lower the JPEG quality until the file lands between 20 KB and 200 KB - that is the range Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) accepts. The resizer on this page does exactly that: it draws your photo onto a the file's own pixel size, because the notice prints none canvas without cropping it, then binary-searches JPEG quality for the highest setting whose file still fits the range. Re-scanning at a lower DPI or fewer colours is the other route the notice itself suggests.
What is the UPSC CSE signature size in KB?: JPG, 20 to 100 KB, 350 to 500 px (the instruction sheet does not name the axis). Sign three times vertically, one below the other, on plain white paper with black ink, then scan all three into a single image.
Does UPSC CSE need a live photo as well as an uploaded one?: UPSC needs two photographs. A passport-size photo file is uploaded, and a live photograph is captured in the form (webcam or QR-code mobile capture). The two are matched; on a mismatch the application cannot proceed. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
Does the UPSC CSE photo have to be recent?: The instruction sheet asks for a photograph that is "clear, recent" but sets no cut-off date after which it must have been taken. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
Does the UPSC CSE photo need the name and date printed on it?: Not required by the instruction sheet. It sets face coverage, background and format rules, and states in as many words that the photograph is NOT to be signed. There is no name-and-date printing line in it. Read from UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026, on 29 Jul 2026.
Which notification are these UPSC CSE specs from?: UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules), dated 4 Feb 2026. It was opened and read on 29 Jul 2026. The figures were read from that document itself. The CSE 2026 notice defers the photo and signature rules to this instruction sheet, and the figures below were read from the instruction sheet itself. The sheet prints no date in its own text; the date shown is the PDF's creation date, 04.02.2026, which matches the date of the CSE 2026 notice.

Other exam specs

Check this against the notice you are applying under

Cite this page

APA, MLA, BibTeX

Canonical URL

https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse

Author and publisher

AltFTool — no individual author is credited on this page.

Notification read on

29 July 2026

Underlying source

UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo & Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) — issued 4 February 2026upsconline.nic.in/ngrp/assets/PDF/instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf

APA

AltFTool. (2026, July 29). UPSC CSE photo and signature size. https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse

MLA

"UPSC CSE photo and signature size." AltFTool, 29 July 2026, www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse.

BibTeX

@misc{altftool-exam-photo-upsc-cse,
  author       = {{AltFTool}},
  title        = {{UPSC CSE photo and signature size}},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jul},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.altftool.com/exam-photo/upsc-cse}},
  note         = {Notification read on 2026-07-29. Source: UPSC, Instructions for Uploading the Photo \& Signature (the document the CSE 2026 notice points to for photo and signature rules) (issued 2026-02-04): \url{https://upsconline.nic.in/ngrp/assets/PDF/instruction-photo-signature-upload-upsc.pdf}.}
}

UPSC CSE photo and signature size

Resize to the UPSC CSE target

UPSC CSE upload specification

What the notice adds, file by file

Also in this notice

Embed this resizer

Who lands on this page

How the resizer hits the target

How this page is built

Questions people ask about the UPSC CSE photo size

Other exam specs

Check this against the notice you are applying under

Cite this page

Keep exploring AltFTool

UPSC CSE photo and signature size

Resize to the UPSC CSE target

UPSC CSE upload specification

What the notice adds, file by file

Also in this notice

Embed this resizer

Who lands on this page

How the resizer hits the target

How this page is built

Questions people ask about the UPSC CSE photo size

Other exam specs

Check this against the notice you are applying under

Cite this page

Keep exploring AltFTool