What SSC asks for
The CGL, CHSL, Stenographer and Constable (GD) 2026 notices, and MTS 2025 until the MTS 2026 notice is out, give the same signature rule in their main text; only the GD notice adds a resolution. The table has the one upload SSC takes; the notices' own words follow, including the annexure line that says 4.0 × 2.0 cm.
| Upload | Pixels | File size | Format | Background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signature | Not set 6 × 2 cm the tool makes 709 × 236 px, worked out | 10–20 KB | JPEG/JPG | Not stated |
Signature: the notice's words
“Candidates are required to upload the scanned signature in JPEG/JPG format (10 to 20 KB).”
“Image dimension of the signature should be about 6.0 cm (width) x 2.0 cm (height).”
“Image Dimension: About 6.0 cm (width) X 2.0 cm (height) at a resolution of 300 DPI.”
“The image dimension of signature should be about 4.0 cm (Width) x 2.0 cm (Height).”
“Online Application Forms with Blurred/Miniature signatures will be rejected.”
“Signature should be horizontally aligned.”
What the tool makes: 709 × 236 px (6.0 × 2.0 cm at 300 DPI; SSC states no pixel size); 300 DPI written into the file, from the Constable (GD) 2026 notice, the only SSC notice that states a resolution. These are worked out from the notice's numbers, not stated in it.
How to use the SSC signature resizer
- Leave the size on 6.0 × 2.0 cm (the notices' main text) unless your form shows 4.0 × 2.0 cm. Choose it before adding your picture: changing it clears the card.
- Sign across plain white paper in dark ink, a little larger than you usually would, and take a straight, sharp photo or scan. Choose it, drag or zoom until the signature fills the strip, and tap Whiten the paper.
- When the checklist is green, download the file (709 × 236 px, 10–20 KB, 300 DPI) and upload it in the form's Upload Documents step.
Example: a phone photo through the SSC resizer
- Signature: a 12-megapixel phone picture of the paper, 4,000 × 3,000 px, opens as a 2,400 × 1,800 px copy; the frame at the worked-out 709 × 236 px (6.0 × 2.0 cm at 300 DPI; SSC states no pixel size) covers 2,400 × 799 px, drawn smaller, at 709 × 236 px. The JPEG is 10,240 to 20,000 bytes (10–20 KB) with 300 DPI, named ssc-signature-709x236.jpg. Under 10,240 bytes at full quality, an invisible comment makes up the rest.
The JPEG quality it lands on depends on the picture itself.
Why there's no SSC photo to resize
The notices say it directly: “For applying, the candidate is not required to have a pre-existing photograph of himself/ herself.” The application turns on your webcam or phone camera and captures the photo there, so there's no photo file, no photo size and no name-and-date strip. The 3.5 × 4.5 cm, 20–50 KB photo size that many sites still repeat comes from the old ssc.nic.in portal, whose registration the CGL 2026 notice says will not be functional. If your Aadhaar isn't authenticated, the notices ask you to bring recent colour photographs to the exam; they give no size for those. For other forms that do take a photo file, use the Passport Size Photo Maker.
6.0 × 2.0 cm or 4.0 × 2.0 cm?
Every notice's main text says about 6.0 × 2.0 cm, and so do the whole Stenographer, MTS and Constable (GD) notices. CGL 2026 and CHSL 2026 then say, in their Annexure-IV only: “The image dimension of signature should be about 4.0 cm (Width) x 2.0 cm (Height).” That line looks left over from the old portal's annexure, so the tool makes 6.0 × 2.0 cm by default and keeps 4.0 × 2.0 cm as a choice. SSC states no pixel size for either. The Constable (GD) in CAPFs and SSF, and Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles Examination 2026 notice (dated 1 December 2025) is the only one that adds “300 DPI”, and at that resolution 6.0 × 2.0 cm is 709 × 236 px and 4.0 × 2.0 cm is 472 × 236 px. Both choices keep to 10–20 KB, the limit every notice agrees on.
A signature that isn't “miniature”
The GD notice warns that forms with blurred or miniature signatures will be rejected, and that the signature should be horizontally aligned. A practical reading of “miniature” is a signature that's small inside a big blank image, so sign with a dark pen, a little larger than usual, straight across the page, and frame it tightly: the 6.0 × 2.0 cm strip is three times as wide as it is high, which suits a signature written across. SSC doesn't state an ink or paper colour; dark ink on plain white paper simply scans most clearly. Visually impaired (PwD(VH)) candidates may upload a clear thumb impression in this slot instead.
The live photo in the SSC form
SSC doesn't take a photo file. The application captures your photo live: in the Upload Documents step it turns on your webcam, and if the webcam doesn't work you scan the QR code on that page to get the SSC Android app from Google Play and take it with your phone. Find good light and a plain background, keep the camera at eye level, look straight ahead with your face fully inside the area the camera marks, neither too close nor too far, and take off any cap, mask, glasses or earphones.
“candidates are required to capture their live photo through webcam/mobile device and upload.”
- Sit facing a window or a lamp, in front of a plain wall: the notices say to find good light and a plain background.
- Keep the camera at eye level, look straight ahead, and fit your face inside the area the camera marks (a red rectangle in the GD form), neither too close nor too far.
- Take off any cap, mask, glasses or spectacles, and earphones.
- Don't hold a printed photo up to the camera: capturing a photo of a photograph leads to rejection.
- Look as you do in the captured photo when you go for the exam: your appearance there has to match it.
Why SSC uploads get rejected
- Blurred, miniature or illegible signatures are rejected.
- Live photos that are poor quality, miniature, blurred or side-facing are rejected.
- Capturing a photo of an existing photograph, instead of your face, leads to rejection.
- Your appearance at the exam has to match the photo captured in the form.
- If you are Aadhaar-authenticated, the notices say you won't be rejected on photo or signature grounds.
How the tool reaches the KB range
With a cm size chosen, the signature is drawn at its worked-out pixel size and saved as a JPEG at the highest quality that stays under 20 KB, with 300 DPI written into the file. With your own crop, the picture keeps its shape, up to 2,400 pixels on its long side, and is scaled down only if it can't get under 20 KB at a reasonable quality. A plain signature can come out under 10 KB even at full quality; then an invisible comment is added to the file to reach 10 KB, and the picture is unchanged. The checklist is read from the finished file.
Check before you apply
- SSC states no pixel size for the signature, only about 6.0 cm wide and 2.0 cm high. Only the Constable (GD) 2026 notice adds a resolution (300 DPI); the pixel sizes the tool offers are worked out from it, not stated by SSC.
- CGL 2026 and CHSL 2026 contradict themselves: 6.0 x 2.0 cm in their main text (as in the Stenographer, MTS and GD notices) but 4.0 x 2.0 cm in their Annexure-IV. The tool makes 6.0 x 2.0 cm unless you choose 4.0 x 2.0 cm.
- There is no photo file to make for SSC. The 3.5 x 4.5 cm, 20-50 KB photo and other sizes that coaching sites still repeat belong to the old ssc.nic.in portal, whose registration the CGL 2026 notice says will not be functional.
- The MTS rules here come from the MTS & Havaldar 2025 notice, because the MTS 2026 notice wasn't out on 8 October 2026. Check it when it's published.
Sources
Rules on this page and in the tool are as per the SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 notice dated 21 May 2026; check the latest notice before you apply. We read the official sources below on 8 October 2026 (SSC 2026: CGL 2026, CHSL 2026, Stenographer Grade C & D 2026 and Constable (GD) 2026, with MTS & Havaldar 2025 until the MTS 2026 notice is out) and will check them again by 1 December 2026.
- SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 notice ↗, dated 21 May 2026
- SSC Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination 2026 notice ↗, dated 7 September 2026
- SSC Stenographer Grade C & D Examination 2026 notice ↗, dated 24 April 2026
- SSC Constable (GD) in CAPFs and SSF, and Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles Examination 2026 notice ↗, dated 1 December 2025
- SSC Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff and Havaldar (CBIC & CBN) Examination 2025 notice ↗, dated 26 June 2025
- SSC Combined Hindi Translators Examination 2026 notice (same wording) ↗, dated 23 April 2026
All five notices were read on 8 October 2026. Open the one for the exam you're applying to before you upload: SSC can change the rules with a corrigendum, and the MTS 2026 notice was still to come.