What size should the IBPS and SBI photo, signature, thumb impression and handwritten declaration be?

A bank exam application asks for four scanned files, and each has its own pixel size and its own KB window, with a minimum as well as a maximum. Get one number wrong and the upload stops there.

The four sizes

Where these come from: the SBI guidelines for scanning and uploading documents, published with an SBI recruitment notice. We read the document itself. The guidelines call the photo and signature pixel sizes "preferred".

If you are applying for an IBPS exam (PO, Clerk or RRB), open the annexure in your own notice and compare it with this table before you upload. Rules can change from one recruitment to the next, and only your notice counts. If a number differs, type your notice's number into Resize Image instead: every size is typed, not chosen from a list.

Before you scan: the paper parts

• Signature: black ink on white paper, as the guidelines ask.
• Left thumb impression: press your left thumb on plain paper, then photograph or scan the print.
• Handwritten declaration: copy the text printed in your notice in your own handwriting. The guidelines say it must not be in capital letters.
• Photo: follow the photo rules in your notice.

Photograph each one from straight above, in daylight, with the page filling most of the frame.

Why the minimums catch people out

Most people worry about the maximum. On bank forms, the minimum is the more common trap.

• Photo. At 200 × 230 pixels a photo is small. In our test, quality 90 gave only 13.5 KB, under the 20 KB minimum; the highest quality gave 35.7 KB. So the tool uses the highest quality that fits under 50 KB, which lands inside the window in our test.
• Signature. A clean 140 × 60 signature is about 3 KB even at the highest quality. The honest fix is explained in why your signature is too small.
• Thumb and declaration. Once the paper is cleaned to white, handwriting and a thumb print can come out under the minimum too.

When quality alone cannot reach a minimum, the tool adds blank data inside the JPG, to a little over the minimum and never over the maximum. The picture itself is unchanged, and the result says so in one sentence.

Step by step: four files, four runs

One run uses one set of settings for everything in it, so make each file on its own:

1. Photo. Open Resize Image and add your photo, with Picture on Photo. Type 50 in the File size box, 200 in Width and 230 in Height, then open More options and type 20 in Smallest size. It is cropped to the 200 × 230 shape, never stretched; if the crop cuts your head or chin, set Keep this part under More options. To download it as photo.jpg, type photo in File name there.
2. Signature. Open Signature Resize, which is set for 10 to 20 KB with Picture on Signature, or choose Signature in Resize Image and type 20 in File size and 10 in Smallest size. Type 140 in Width and 60 in Height. The clean-up makes the paper white, darkens the ink and trims to the signature. It downloads as signature.jpg.
3. Thumb impression. Choose Signature under Picture: it is also right for a thumb impression. Type 50 in File size, 240 in Width and 240 in Height; under More options type 20 in Smallest size, 200 in DPI written into the file, and thumb in File name. Look at the print at Actual size: if the ridges look lost, set Background to Original to switch the clean-up off.
4. Declaration. Choose Signature again, add the photo of the page, and type 100 in File size, 800 in Width and 400 in Height; under More options type 50 in Smallest size, 200 in DPI written into the file, and declaration in File name. Check that every word is readable at Actual size.
5. Check before you upload. For each file the preview shows the size in KB and exact bytes, the pixels, and a list of checks for the size, the pixels, JPG and the file name, with a tick next to each that passes. Tap Resize picture and download. For the thumb and the declaration, 200 DPI is written into the file.

The photo and signature never leave your device: all four are made in your browser.

Why it was rejected

• Signature at 3 to 7 KB. Under the 10 KB minimum.
• Photo or thumb over 50 KB. For example, a photo straight from the camera.
• Pixels a little off. 200 × 231 after a crop in a gallery app is not 200 × 230.
• KB counted differently. A 20,300-byte signature is 19.8 KB to one system and 20.3 KB to another. The tool aims for 10,240 to 20,000 bytes so it passes both; see KB vs KiB.
• PNG or HEIC instead of JPG.
• Sideways photo. See why photos upload sideways.
• Grey or shadowed paper behind the signature, thumb or declaration.
• Declaration in capital letters.
• Files in the wrong boxes. Plain file names help here: a signature downloads as signature.jpg, and you can type photo, thumb or declaration in File name under More options for the others.

What the tool cannot do

It cannot tell you whether your photo meets the portal's rules on face and background. It cannot write the declaration for you, fix a smudged thumb print, or confirm that these numbers are still the ones in your notice. It makes each file exactly the size you ask for, and shows you that it did.