Photo and Signature Size for Online Forms

First, read what your form asks for

Every form sets its own rules, and they change from year to year. Before you start, write down four things from the form's own instructions: the file format (usually JPG), the file size (a maximum, sometimes a minimum too), the width and height in pixels if they are given, and any rule for the background and the face. Use those numbers, not the ones from a guide or a friend.

Preparing the photo

• Stand in front of a plain light wall, with light falling on your face, not from behind you.
• Hold the phone at eye level, and keep your face straight and inside the frame.
• Take it at the phone's normal camera setting. Do not use filters or beauty modes.
• Crop so your head and shoulders fill the picture, the way the form's sample shows.

Preparing the signature

• Sign with a dark pen on plain white paper, in good light.
• Take the picture straight from above so the paper does not look slanted.
• Crop close around the signature so little white is left around it.

Resizing both

1. Open Resize & Compress Image to 100KB.
2. Add the photo and the signature together.
3. Choose the size the form asks for, for example 50 KB, or type it under Other.
4. If the form gives pixel sizes, enter them as the maximum width and height. The picture is fitted inside them and is never stretched.
5. Press Resize and check the size and the dimensions shown next to each picture.
6. Download each one and look at it before you upload. Zoom in on the face and the signature to be sure they are clear.

If the form wants an exact width and height

The tool fits the picture inside the maximum width and height, keeping its shape, so the result may be slightly smaller than the box on one side. If the form needs exactly, for example, a fixed width and height, crop the picture to the right shape first so that its proportions match, then resize it here.

Common reasons an upload is refused

• The file is over the maximum size: choose a smaller target and try again.
• The file is under the minimum size: this tool cannot make a file bigger, so choose a target just under the maximum rather than very small.
• The format is wrong: HEIC photos from iPhones are not accepted by most forms, so save or share the picture as JPG first.
• The picture is the wrong shape: crop it before resizing.

Keep the original photos. If the form asks again with different rules, start from the original rather than from a picture that was already made small.