Online application forms — jobs, exams, admissions, government services — almost always ask for two uploads: your photo and your signature, each with strict size limits. Get either wrong and the form rejects you at the last step. This guide gives you the typical limits and a workflow that passes first time.
Typical limits
| Upload | Common size limit | Common dimensions |
|---|---|---|
| Photograph | 20–50 KB | ~400–600 px wide |
| Signature | 10–20 KB | ~140 × 60 px |
| Documents / certificates | 100–300 KB | varies |
These are the ranges seen most often — your form's instructions always win. Read them before you start.
Preparing your photo
Preparing your signature
- Sign with a dark pen on clean white paper — thin grey signatures compress badly and look broken at 10KB.
- Photograph or scan it straight-on in good light, avoiding shadows.
- Crop tightly to the signature — white margins waste most of your KB budget.
- Resize to roughly the required dimensions (often ~140 × 60 px), then compress to 10–20KB.
Pre-submit checklist
- File size at or under the stated limit (not "about" — portals check exactly).
- Format matches what the form accepts (usually JPG).
- Photo shows your face clearly; signature is dark and legible.
- File names are simple (no spaces or special characters): photo.jpg, signature.jpg.