UPSC Photo & Signature Compressor — Free

Q: What signature dimensions does UPSC expect?

A signature image roughly 140 × 60 pixels in JPG, signed on plain white paper with a black or dark blue pen, capped at 20 KB. Crop tight to the ink so the bounding box does not carry blank paper — Sukat’s built-in Crop tool handles this before compression.

Q: Can I crop in-browser before compressing?

Yes. Click Crop inside Sukat. For the photo, pick a 3:4 aspect ratio and frame the head and shoulders. For the signature, crop tight to the ink. Crop first, then compress — cropping after compression re-encodes the file and burns a small quality budget you do not need to spend.

How to

Compress your UPSC photo and signature

Three steps. Drop both files at once; Sukat compresses each to its own target without leaving the page.

Drop both files into Sukat

Add your photograph and your signature scan together — JPG, PNG, HEIC, AVIF, or WebP all decode in-browser. iPhone HEIC works directly with no separate convert step.

Set each file’s target

For the photo, enter 300 KB and choose JPEG. For the signature, enter 20 KB and keep JPEG — UPSC requires JPG for both. Sukat tracks each file’s target independently.

Convert and download

Click Convert & Download. The algorithm binary-searches each file’s quality scale, lands just under its ceiling, and writes both outputs locally. Upload straight to upsc.gov.in.

When you need it

UPSC exams that use this photo + signature pattern

Once the photo and signature pair is uploaded to UPSC’s One Time Registration, it is reused across every UPSC notification. The 300 KB photo plus 20 KB signature combination shows up across:

UPSC Civil Services Prelims. The single largest UPSC application window of the year — the OTR photo and signature populate every CSE application automatically.
UPSC Civil Services Mains. Candidates clearing Prelims fill the DAF using the same registered photo and signature; no re-upload is required.
UPSC Indian Forest Service (IFS). Shares the CSE Prelims test; same photo and signature carry through to the Mains DAF.
UPSC Engineering Services Examination (ESE). Photograph up to 300 KB and signature up to 20 KB are enforced at the application stage for Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and ECE.
UPSC Combined Defence Services (CDS). Same upload limits for IMA, OTA, AFA and INA applicants; OTR-stored files reused across both CDS-I and CDS-II cycles.
UPSC National Defence Academy (NDA). NDA-I and NDA-II share the OTR photo and signature; the 300 KB and 20 KB ceilings are the same.

Why Sukat

Built around the UPSC pair, not generic resizing

Most online photo resizers treat the photo and signature as two separate jobs. Sukat treats them as one workflow with two ceilings.

Hits 300 KB and 20 KB precisely, not “close to”

Sukat takes the constraint directly. The photo lands under 300 KB at the highest quality JPEG can deliver; the signature lands under 20 KB at the highest quality that keeps the strokes sharp. One pass per file, no overshoot, no portal rejection.

Photo dimensions stay full at 300 KB

A typical 1080p or 1500p phone photo holds its dimensions at 300 KB JPEG with no visible quality loss. Sukat drops quality first and only downscales when quality 1 still cannot fit the cap — rarely needed at this ceiling.

Signature edges held at 20 KB

The JPEG encoder weights detail toward high-contrast strokes (the ink) and trims whitespace first. The signature edges stay crisp at 20 KB; the white paper compresses for free.

JPG output by default for both files

UPSC requires JPG specifically — not PNG, not WebP. Sukat’s output format dropdown defaults to JPEG so the workflow matches the portal’s format rule without an extra setting.

HEIC-aware

Shot the photo on iPhone? Sukat decodes HEIC directly. Most online compressors fail silently on HEIC input and force a separate convert-to-JPG round trip.

Batch — drop both, compress both

Drop the photo and signature together. Sukat keeps each file’s target independent, runs both compressions in parallel, and writes two outputs to your downloads folder.

Privacy by default

Compression runs entirely in your browser via the Canvas API. Your photograph and signature — both sensitive identity assets — never reach a server. Verify by switching to airplane mode after the page loads.

Questions

FAQ

What photo dimensions does UPSC expect?

UPSC’s OTR portal commonly specifies a JPG photograph at roughly 300 × 400 pixels (3.5 cm × 4.5 cm), recent (within six months), with the candidate’s face clearly visible against a plain white or off-white background. The file ceiling is 300 KB. Always cross-check the current notification on upsc.gov.in before submitting — specifications drift between cycles.

What signature dimensions does UPSC expect?

A signature image roughly 140 × 60 pixels in JPG, signed on plain white paper with a black or dark blue pen, capped at 20 KB. Crop tight to the ink so the bounding box does not carry blank paper — Sukat’s built-in Crop tool handles this before compression.

Will my photo still look good at 300 KB?

Yes. 300 KB is a generous JPEG ceiling for a 300 × 400 to 1080p portrait — faces compress cleanly with no visible artefacts at typical quality. Sukat preserves dimensions first; you keep the original resolution at 300 KB in almost every case.

How should I handle the signature scan?

Sign on a clean white sheet with a dark pen, then scan or take a well-lit phone photo (avoid shadows). Drop the file into Sukat, crop tight to the ink, set 20 KB as the target with JPEG output. The edges stay sharp because the encoder weights detail toward the high-contrast strokes.

Can I crop in-browser before compressing?

Yes. Click Crop inside Sukat. For the photo, pick a 3:4 aspect ratio and frame the head and shoulders. For the signature, crop tight to the ink. Crop first, then compress — cropping after compression re-encodes the file and burns a small quality budget you do not need to spend.

Will the UPSC portal accept files compressed by Sukat?

Yes. Sukat outputs standards-compliant JPEG with EXIF and location metadata stripped — both desirable for identity uploads. The output is the same format and dimensions UPSC expects, just sized to fit under the published ceilings. Many candidates use Sukat for OTR uploads each cycle.

Related tools

Other photo + signature workflows

SSC Photo & Signature Compressor — same workflow tuned for SSC’s tighter KB ranges Compress Signature to 20KB — signature-only flow with the exact 20 KB target Compress Image to 300KB — the photo half of the UPSC pair, used standalone Compress Image to 200KB — safer photo target if a portal mid-cycles its ceiling Compress Image to 50KB — tighter photo target for older recruitment portals Reduce Image Size in KB — pick any custom KB target Image Size Guide — full breakdown by platform and exam

Hit the UPSC photo and signature limits precisely