Application photo and signature guides

Three guides for the file problems that get exam and job application uploads refused: numbers that do not match the notice, a file over or under the KB limit, and a signature with its edges cut off. Pick the one that matches what the portal told you.

• Pixels, KB and DPI: Upload Sizes Explained

  Understand pixels, KB and DPI with worked upload examples. Learn which controls change dimensions, file size and resolution metadata for forms.

  Read this when the notice gives several numbers and you are not sure which control changes which. It separates pixel dimensions, file size and DPI, works through a 200 × 230 pixel, 20 to 50 KB example, and explains how FormAssets counts a KB so a file passes whether the portal means 1,000 or 1,024 bytes. It also shows how to turn centimetres or inches at a stated DPI into pixels.

  Read the guide · Open the photo resizer

• How to resize a signature without cutting off the strokes

  Learn how to resize a signature without cutting off the strokes. Choose fit instead of crop and check the downloaded JPG before submitting it.

  Read this when a resized signature comes out with its first or last stroke missing, or too small to read. It explains why “Fit all, add white space” keeps every stroke and “Fill frame, crop edges” can remove them, with a worked example of a 600 × 150 pixel source going into a 140 × 60 frame, and lists what to check in the downloaded JPG before you upload it.

  Read the guide · Open the signature resizer

• Photo or signature upload rejected? File Checklist

  Photo or signature upload rejected? Check format, pixels, file size and image content in order, and learn when a resizer cannot fix the problem.

  Read this when the portal has already refused a file. It takes the checks in order: the right file in the right field, the real format (renaming a PNG to .jpg does not convert it), width and height read separately, both ends of the size range, and what the picture shows. The last step covers what to do when the file passes every check and the portal still refuses it.

  Read the guide · Fix the file in the photo resizer

Match the problem to a guide

• The file is too large or too small. Step 4 of the upload checklist covers both ends of the range. To bring a file under a maximum, enter both limits in the photo resizer; to lift a file over a minimum, use increase image size in KB.
• The width and height are wrong, or the notice asks for DPI or centimetres. Start with pixels, KB and DPI.
• The portal says the file type is invalid. Step 2 of the upload checklist explains how to check the real format.
• The signature looks cut off or unreadable in the preview. Follow resize a signature without cropping.

How these guides are written and checked

Rai Ansar, the developer who runs FormAssets, writes the guides and reviews them; the review date is shown under each title. Numbers in the worked examples are arithmetic on the stated sizes, labelled as examples, not measurements of your file. Statements about how browsers handle images link to MDN’s documentation. More about the site is on the about page.

These guides explain technical preparation. They do not set the requirements for any exam: those come from the application’s current official notice. For a supported exam, open its application page, which links each size and format to the notice it came from and prepares the file to match.