A photo that looks perfect can still be rejected. These are the real reasons, and what to do about each.
Application portals for exams, jobs and scholarships receive huge numbers of uploads in a short window, and the photos and signatures are later printed on admit cards, compared at the exam centre and stored for years. To keep that workable, each portal sets a file size range, a pixel or centimetre size, and a format, and it rejects anything outside them automatically. The check is done by software, so a photo that looks perfect to you can still fail.
The limits differ between organisations and even between years. For example, one recent SSC notice asked for a signature as a JPEG between 10 and 20 KB, at roughly 6 cm by 2 cm, while photo limits on other portals are often in the range of 20 to 50 KB. Always read the current notice for your own exam.
The file is too large. This is the most common cause. A phone photo is several megabytes, and a portal that wants 50 KB will reject it outright. Compressing to the stated limit fixes it.
The file is too small. Some portals set a minimum as well as a maximum, such as 20 KB. Compressing too hard can push the file under that minimum, so aim inside the range, not just below the top of it.
The dimensions are wrong. Many portals specify width and height in pixels or in centimetres, and a photo outside that shape is rejected or stretched.
The format is wrong. Most want JPG or JPEG. A WebP or HEIC file, or a PNG, will be refused even though it opens fine on your device.
The background or framing is wrong. Photos are often required to have a plain light background, a visible face and no cap or glasses glare, and signatures are required to be dark ink on plain white paper.
The name or extension is wrong. A file called photo.jpg.jpg, a name with symbols, or a file whose extension does not match its real format can fail, so keep the name short and plain.
Start with the notice and write down the size range, the dimensions, the format and any background or date rules. Take or find a clear photo, then crop it to the shape the notice asks for. Convert it to JPG if it is in another format, and compress it into the stated size range, checking the result in kilobytes. Finally, view it at full size to make sure the face and signature are still clear, and upload it.
For a signature, sign in dark ink on plain white paper, photograph it in good light, crop tightly around it and then resize it. A thick pen makes a signature survive compression better than a thin one.
If the portal still rejects the file, read its exact error message, because it often names the problem. If it says the size is wrong, check whether it counts in KB or MB and whether you are inside both the minimum and the maximum. If it says the dimensions are wrong, resize to the exact pixels rather than approximately. If nothing helps, try a different browser or the same upload from a computer rather than a phone, as some portals are fussy about how files are chosen.
Passport-style photos and signatures are personal. Resizing them in a tool that works inside your browser, as Tooqly does, means the files are not uploaded to a third-party server on the way to the portal.
Resize a photo to an exact size in KB
Check the minimum size, the pixel dimensions, the format and the file name too. Portals check all of them, and any one can cause a rejection.
It depends on the portal. One recent SSC notice asked for a JPEG of 10 to 20 KB at about 6 cm by 2 cm. Always use the numbers in the notice for your own exam.
Usually not without resizing. A phone photo is several megabytes and in a size and shape the portal does not accept, so resize and compress it first.