JEE Main Photo and Signature Size in 2026

Step 2 of the application procedure, on page 4 of the 2026 bulletin, gives the range in one line: “Photograph in JPG/JPEG format (clearly legible) between 10 kb to 200 kb.” Anything lighter than 10 kb or heavier than 200 kb is outside the rule, and so is a PNG or HEIC file, whatever its weight.

The ceiling has come down. The 2025 bulletin allowed up to 300 kb and wanted the file named ‘Photograph’; the 2026 text drops the naming instruction and cuts the top to 200. Pages written for the 2025 cycle, and the demo screen at the back of the 2026 bulletin, still say 300 KB. At or below 200 KB the photo is legal under both readings.

The 2026 bulletin says only: “Signature file should be JPG/JPEG format (clearly legible) between 10 kb to 100 kb.” There is no strip size, no ink colour and no paper colour in that text. Last year’s cap was 50 kb, and the Appendix IX demo screen still prints Max 50, so a signature between 10 and 50 KB is the choice that cannot be turned away on size.

Other NTA forms are tighter on the signature and identical on the photo: CUET (UG) 2026 and UGC-NET December 2025 both ask for a 10 kb to 50 kb signature beside a 10 kb to 200 kb photograph. The 3.5 × 1.5 cm signature box found on many coaching sites does not appear in the 2025 or 2026 JEE bulletin.

Ink on white paper is cheap to store, so a tight crop can weigh under 10 KB; a minimum of 10 in the compressor lifts it over the floor.

NTA leaves pixels to you. The bulletin text has no pixel, centimetre or DPI figure for either image; the checks it states are format, weight and how the face looks.

“Passport size” in India is the 3.5 × 4.5 cm print, and at 200 or 300 DPI that is 276 × 354 or 413 × 531 pixels. Neither comes near 200 KB as a JPG. For the signature, a 3.5 × 1.5 cm strip is a sensible shape even though NTA does not ask for it; the table gives its pixels.

No. Neither the 2026 nor the 2025 bulletin mentions a name or a date on the photograph, so a plain studio portrait or a phone picture against a white wall is enough. If the print you scan carries a name-and-date strip, crop it off so the face fills more of the picture; the tools on this page cannot add such a strip either.

Keep a paper copy of the same picture. Among the documents to carry on exam day, the bulletin lists “One passport size photograph (same as uploaded on the Online Application Form)” to paste on the Attendance Sheet, so print from the file you upload rather than a different sitting.

The live photograph is captured on the form itself. Note 2 under Step 2 tells you to switch on the camera or plug in a webcam, and to scan the QR code with a phone or tablet if the computer has none. It asks for a light-colored background with proper lighting and 80% face visibility, ears showing, no mask; there is no file to resize for this step.

NTA compares faces. Note 1 reserves the right to verify photographs and advises updating Aadhaar with a recent picture, and the 2026 FAQ says a mismatch between the live photo and the Aadhaar photo “will be reviewed by the NTA”, with any major discrepancy reported by email or text message.