FormFit
UPSC photo size
The UPSC form needs the photograph at 350 × 350 pixels with the file between 20 and 300 KB. Drop your image below and take back exactly that.
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Sizes change between notifications. Check the numbers against your own notice before you upload.
What size does the UPSC photo need to be
The UPSC form wants the photo at 350 by 350 pixels, saved as a JPG, with the file somewhere between 20 and 300 KB. At 300 DPI that works out to roughly 3.0 by 3.0 cm on paper. All three conditions have to hold at once. Getting the pixels right will not help if the file is the wrong weight, and a file of the right weight fails if the dimensions are off. The portal checks each one separately and the error message it shows rarely tells you which one failed.
What the shape means for cropping
350 by 350 pixels is a ratio of 1:1, which is close to square. The target is close to square. A portrait photo loses a little from each side, which is usually fine for a head and shoulders shot. Open More controls above if you want to switch between cropping the edges to fill the frame and keeping the whole image with white space around it.
Why the range is 20 to 300 KB
People tend to read only the upper limit and compress the file as small as it will go. That is the single most common mistake. A file under 20 KB is rejected exactly as firmly as one over 300 KB, because the portal tests both ends. This tool searches for the best quality that still fits under 300 KB, and if the result lands below 20 KB it lifts the file back into range without altering a single pixel. The ceiling is generous for an image this small. Files here tend to come out under the minimum rather than over the maximum, and the tool lifts them back into range when that happens.
How to do it
Tap the box above and pick your image. The preset is already set to UPSC photo, so the width, height and KB range are filled in and you do not need to type anything. Press Resize. The result appears below with a three line checklist covering pixel size, file size and format. Green against all three means the portal will accept it. Then press Download JPG and upload that file to the form.
Doing it on a phone
Tap the box, pick the shot from your gallery, and the finished file lands in Downloads ready to upload. Use the rear camera rather than the front one, since the selfie lens distorts a face at close range. Worth knowing: phone cameras do not rotate the picture, they store the rotation in a hidden tag. That is why a photo looks upright in your gallery and arrives sideways at the portal. This tool reads the tag and straightens it on the way through.
What your original needs to be
The target here has a long edge of 350 pixels. Anything from a phone camera in the last decade is far bigger than that, so you have room to spare. Aim for an original with a long edge of at least 700 pixels and the result stays sharp. What you must avoid is feeding in something already smaller than 350 by 350, because scaling an image up cannot invent detail that was never captured. That is why a crop from a group photo, or a screenshot, tends to look soft no matter what you do to it afterwards.
Which exams this covers
These dimensions apply across Civil Services, CDS, NDA. The bodies running them keep the photo specification consistent between its papers, so one correctly sized file usually serves every form you fill under it that season. Save the 350 by 350 version you download here and you can reuse it, but check each notification anyway, because a single paper occasionally departs from the standard.
What the photograph should look like
Face the camera straight on with your eyes open and your whole face visible. Keep the background plain and light. White, pale blue or light grey are the safest choices. No cap and no sunglasses. Prescription glasses are usually fine as long as there is no glare on the lenses. Leave a little space above your head, because a tight frame means the crop will cut into your forehead. Many exams now ask for the date to be printed on the photograph and for it to have been taken recently, often within the last three or six months, so check your notification.
Photos that will not work
A selfie is often rejected because the lens stretches the edges of the face. A picture cropped out of a group photo comes through soft and blurred. Anything sent over WhatsApp has already been compressed once, so use the original file from your gallery instead. A screenshot of a photo loses a great deal of quality and rarely passes.
If the upload is still rejected
Read your notification again and check the numbers against this page. Exam bodies revise them between cycles, and the 350 by 350 px and 20 to 300 KB shown here reflect a previous notification. If your notice says something different, type those numbers straight into the width, height and KB boxes above, which are all editable. If it still fails after that, try a different browser, and try renaming the file. Some portals quietly reject file names containing spaces or special characters.
Common questions
What is the UPSC photo size?
The UPSC form needs the photo at 350 by 350 pixels with the file between 20 and 300 KB, in JPG format.
How do I get the file under 300 KB?
Put your image into the tool above. It adjusts the quality until the file sits between 20 and 300 KB, leaving the dimensions exactly as the form requires.
Does this work on a phone?
Yes. The tool runs in a phone browser. Choose a photo from your gallery and download the resized file when it is ready.
Is my photo stored anywhere?
No. The whole thing happens inside your browser and the image is never sent anywhere. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is kept.