IBPS PO & Clerk: the four upload sizes (photo, signature, thumb impression, handwritten declaration)

Most exam forms ask for two images. IBPS asks for four, and each has a different size window. Get one wrong and the form won’t submit; get the declaration wording wrong and the form submits but your candidature is at risk at verification. The good news is that the process is mechanical once the numbers are in front of you.

All four, side by side

Upload	Format	File size	Pixels	Scan	Notes
Photograph	JPG / JPEG	20–50 KB	200 × 230	—	Recent, passport style, light/white background, no cap or dark glasses
Signature	JPG / JPEG	10–20 KB	140 × 60	—	Black ink, white paper, running hand — not capitals
Left thumb impression	JPG / JPEG	20–50 KB	240 × 240	200 dpi	Black or blue ink, white paper
Handwritten declaration	JPG / JPEG	50–100 KB	800 × 400 (≈ 10 × 5 cm)	200 dpi	English, black ink, running hand — not capitals

These figures come from Annexure III of the IBPS CRP PO/MT-XVI notification (2026). IBPS reuses the same annexure across its PO, Clerk, SO and RRB recruitments, so the table applies to all of them unless your specific notification says otherwise. Read the annexure once; it’s two pages.

Note the shape of every window: there is a minimum as well as a maximum. A file that’s too small is rejected just as firmly as one that’s too large. This trips up more applicants than the upper bound does, because a tightly-cropped signature or a clean scan compresses to almost nothing.

The workflow that works for all four

Every image goes through the same three moves: capture → set pixels → set kilobytes. The order matters. Resize first, then compress; if you compress first and then resize, you re-encode twice and lose quality for nothing.

1. Capture. Scanner at 200 dpi if you have one. Otherwise a phone, shooting straight down at the paper in even daylight, no flash. Crop to the content with a thin white margin.
2. Set pixels. Open the Image Resizer, enter the exact width and height from the table, and export. For the photo this is 200 × 230; the resizer’s crop keeps your face proportionate rather than squashing it.
3. Set kilobytes. Drop the resized file into the compressor that matches the window — 20 KB for the signature, 50 KB for the photo and thumb impression, 100 KB for the declaration. Each one searches for the best quality that fits under the ceiling and shows you the final size.
4. Check the floor. If the result is below the minimum (say the signature came out at 7 KB), go back to the resizer and add pixels — 280 × 120 for the signature, 480 × 480 for the thumb — then compress again. More pixels means more bytes at the same quality, lifting the file into the window.

Nothing is uploaded during any of this. The resizer and compressors run inside your browser tab; the files stay on your device.

Item by item

Photograph (20–50 KB, 200 × 230)

A recent colour photo, passport style: face forward, eyes open, plain light background. Caps, hats and dark glasses are out; religious headwear that leaves the face fully visible is accepted. Unlike some other recruiters, IBPS does not ask for your name and the date printed on the photo — a plain portrait is what they want.

The 200 × 230 size is small. A studio photo is typically 1200 × 1500 or larger, so the resizer will downscale it heavily; that’s expected, and the 50 KB budget is generous at these dimensions, so the compressor will keep quality high.

Signature (10–20 KB, 140 × 60)

Sign on plain white paper in black ink, in the hand you’ll use on the exam-day attendance sheet. IBPS rejects capital-letter signatures because they don’t work as a verification specimen. Crop tightly and resize to 140 × 60 — the 7 : 3 ratio suits a normal signature; if yours is unusually tall or compact, sign again inside a lightly pencilled 4.7 cm × 2 cm box and erase the pencil after scanning is done.

The floor bites here. A crisp black-on-white signature at 140 × 60 can compress to 5–6 KB. If that happens, resize to about 280 × 120 instead; the portal accepts slightly larger dimensions as long as the KB window is met.

Left thumb impression (20–50 KB, 240 × 240)

Use a stamp pad or a small amount of black or blue ink. Press the left thumb flat on white paper with even pressure — rolling it slightly side to side captures the full pad. Ridges should be visible individually; a solid black oval means too much ink or too much pressure. Take two or three impressions and pick the clearest. Scan at 200 dpi, crop to a square around the impression, resize to 240 × 240, compress to under 50 KB.

If your left thumb is injured or absent, the notification specifies alternatives (typically the right thumb, then other fingers); check the annexure.

Handwritten declaration (50–100 KB, 800 × 400)

This one has a content rule as well as a size rule. On plain white paper, in black ink, in English, in your own running hand, write the declaration exactly as printed in your notification’s annexure. The wording in the current PO notification is:

I, ______ (Name of the candidate), hereby declare that all the information submitted by me in the application form is correct, true and valid. I will present the supporting documents as and when required.

Fill your name in the blank; don’t add a date or signature unless the annexure asks for one. Capital letters are not accepted, and the declaration must be handwritten by you — a typed or printed version is grounds for rejection.

Write it inside roughly a 10 × 5 cm area so that the 800 × 400 resize keeps the text readable. Scan at 200 dpi, crop, resize to 800 × 400, then compress to under 100 KB. At this size the floor of 50 KB is rarely a problem — handwriting on paper carries enough texture — but check the result card anyway.

Common rejection reasons, in order of frequency

1. File below the minimum size — usually the signature. Add pixels, then recompress.
2. PNG or HEIC instead of JPEG. iPhones shoot HEIC by default. The compressors output JPEG regardless of input, so running the file through one fixes this automatically.
3. Signature or declaration in capital letters. No tool fixes this; rewrite it.
4. Thumb impression too dark. Less ink, lighter pressure.
5. Wrong aspect ratio — a square photo forced into 200 × 230 looks distorted. Crop to the ratio first, then resize.

Before you upload

• Four files, all .jpg.
• Photo 20–50 KB · Signature 10–20 KB · Thumb 20–50 KB · Declaration 50–100 KB.
• Dimensions as in the table; content upright and tightly cropped.
• Declaration wording matches the annexure, in running hand, in English, in black.
• Name each file plainly: photo.jpg, signature.jpg, thumb.jpg, declaration.jpg.