A typical Indian adult carries four government photo IDs — a PAN card, a voter ID (EPIC), an Aadhaar, and a driving licence. Every one of them is applied for or updated on a different government portal, and here is the catch that trips up thousands of people every week: no two portals accept the same photo file. The KB limit, the pixel dimensions, even the crop shape all differ. A photo that sails through the voter ID portal at 180 KB is rejected instantly by the driving-licence portal, which caps at 40 KB.
This guide is the single reference for all of them: the exact 2026 photo spec for each Indian government ID, the one file that passes every portal, and how to make it in your browser without uploading anything.
Quick answer — the one photo that passes every portal
Prepare a recent colour JPEG on a plain white background, roughly 200×250 px portrait, compressed to under 30 KB. That single file clears the KB cap and pixel minimum of the voter ID, PAN, Aadhaar and driving-licence portals. The only extra you may need is a square (213×213 px) crop for a PAN card via UTIITSL.
Every Indian government ID photo spec (2026)
These are the current requirements for the online application or update form of each ID, verified against the respective government portal. The KB limit is the number that rejects most uploads, so it is listed first.
| Document | Portal | Max file size | Pixel size | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voter ID (EPIC) | voters.eci.gov.in | 200 KB | ≥200×240 px | JPEG |
| PAN (NSDL / Protean) | onlineservices.nsdl.com | 50 KB | 197×276 px | JPEG |
| PAN (UTIITSL) | myutiitsl.com | 30 KB | 213×213 px (square) | JPEG |
| Aadhaar update | myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in | 50 KB | ≥200×200 px | JPEG |
| Driving Licence | sarathi.parivahan.gov.in | 40 KB | ≥200×230 px | JPEG |
Every portal wants the same kind of photo — a recent, front-facing colour headshot on a plain light background — but enforces it with a different KB cap and pixel rule. That gap between “looks the same” and “passes the same” is exactly why a photo accepted by one portal is bounced by the next.
Why can't you use one photo for every ID?
Because the file-size ceilings sit far apart. The driving-licence portal (Sarathi) accepts 40 KB; the voter ID portal accepts up to 200 KB — five times larger. A photo saved for the voter ID form is usually 120–180 KB, so uploading it to Sarathi fails on size alone. The portals validate automatically: a single parameter out of range triggers an immediate rejection with no human review.
The practical fix is to work to the strictest spec, not the loosest. Compress your photo to under 30 KB and it slides under every cap on the table — 40 KB, 50 KB and 200 KB alike — while staying sharp enough to meet each portal's pixel minimum.
PAN card photo requirements
PAN is the one ID with two valid portals, and they disagree on the crop. Via NSDL / Protean the photo is a portrait 197×276 px JPEG under 50 KB. Via UTIITSL it is a square 213×213 px JPEG under a tighter 30 KB. Both want a white background and a forward-facing colour headshot. The square requirement is the one people miss — a portrait crop is rejected by UTIITSL.
The full PAN card photo size guide breaks down both portals, and the PAN photo & signature spec page includes the matching signature dimensions and a resizer.
Voter ID (EPIC) photo requirements
The Election Commission's NVSP portal (voters.eci.gov.in) is the most forgiving on size: a colour JPEG between 10 KB and 200 KB, at least 200×240 px, on a plain white or light background. It applies to Form 6 (new enrollment), Form 6A (overseas voters) and Form 8 (corrections). Even though 200 KB is generous, several state ERO portals tighten it to 50 KB, so under 100 KB is the safe target.
See the voter ID photo requirements guide for the per-form breakdown, or the voter ID photo spec & resizer to hit the exact KB target.
Driving licence photo requirements
The Sarathi portal (sarathi.parivahan.gov.in) has the tightest realistic cap of the four everyday IDs: a colour JPEG under 40 KB, at least 200×230 px, white background. It applies to a learner's licence, a permanent licence, and renewal. Because 40 KB is so tight, a straight phone photo almost never passes without compression.
The Sarathi driving-licence photo guide and the driving-licence photo spec page cover the exact numbers and a one-click resizer.
Aadhaar photo requirements
Unlike a new PAN or licence, an Aadhaar photo is normally captured at an enrolment centre. But when you request a photo update online through myAadhaar (myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in), the uploaded JPEG must be under 50 KB and at least 200×200 px, colour, on a plain background. Note that a fresh biometric photo update often still requires a centre visit — the online route mainly covers correcting an existing entry.
Before you share any Aadhaar scan or copy, read how to mask your Aadhaar number first — UIDAI recommends masking the first eight digits on any shared copy. To hit the 50 KB photo cap, the compress-to-KB tool does it in your browser.
How to make one photo that passes every portal
You do not need a studio or four separate photos. One good capture, prepared to the strictest spec, works everywhere:
- Background: Stand against a plain white or cream wall with no shadows behind you. If the wall isn't clean enough, the background removal tool swaps it for solid white on-device.
- Lighting & pose: Face a window in soft daylight, phone at eye level, neutral expression, eyes open, no sunglasses or cap. Fill the frame with your head and top of shoulders.
- Crop: Crop to a portrait rectangle around 200×250 px (and keep a square 213×213 px version if you'll use UTIITSL for PAN).
- Compress: Use the compress-to-KB tool to bring the JPEG under 30 KB — that single file then clears the 40 KB, 50 KB and 200 KB caps in one go.
- Check before you upload: Run it through the photo validator to confirm size, format and dimensions before the portal does.
Common rejection reasons across all portals
Whatever the ID, the automatic checks reject for the same handful of reasons. Fix these and almost every upload goes through on the first try:
| Rejection reason | Fix |
|---|---|
| File over the KB limit | Compress to under 30 KB to clear every portal at once |
| PNG, PDF, WEBP or HEIC file | Convert to JPEG before uploading |
| Black-and-white photo | Use a colour photo — even a colour scan of a B&W print is rejected |
| Dark or patterned background | Shoot against plain white or use background removal |
| Wrong crop shape (portrait vs square) | Match the portal — UTIITSL PAN needs a square 213×213 px crop |
| Blurry or low-resolution image | Take in daylight; keep at least the portal's pixel minimum |
| Face too small in frame | Crop tightly so the face fills 60–70% of the frame |
Related reading: the Indian passport photo requirements guide covers the separate MEA / Passport Seva spec, and how to compress a photo to 50 KB walks through the compression step in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is the photo size the same for all Indian government IDs?
No. Each portal sets its own limit. Voter ID (NVSP) allows up to 200 KB, PAN via NSDL caps at 50 KB, PAN via UTIITSL at 30 KB, Aadhaar update at 50 KB, and the driving licence (Sarathi) at just 40 KB. Pixel dimensions differ too. One photo compressed to under 30 KB clears every one of these portals.
Which Indian government portal has the strictest photo size limit?
UTIITSL for PAN cards is the tightest at 30 KB, followed by the Sarathi driving-licence portal at 40 KB. If you compress a single JPEG to under 30 KB on a plain white background at roughly 200×250 px, it will pass all major portals — voter ID, PAN, Aadhaar, and driving licence — without a separate photo for each.
What file format do Indian government ID applications need?
Every major portal — NVSP (voter ID), NSDL and UTIITSL (PAN), UIDAI (Aadhaar), and Sarathi (driving licence) — requires JPEG / JPG. PNG, PDF, WEBP and HEIC are rejected. If your phone saves photos as HEIC or PNG, convert to JPEG before uploading. All portals also require a colour photo; black-and-white is rejected.
Can I use the same photo for my PAN card, voter ID, Aadhaar and driving licence?
Yes, if you prepare it to the strictest common spec: a recent colour JPEG on a plain white background, roughly 200×250 px portrait, compressed to under 30 KB. That single file satisfies the KB cap and pixel minimum of all four portals. The only exception is UTIITSL's square (213×213 px) PAN crop, which needs a square version.
Why do government ID photos get rejected online?
The most common reasons are the same across portals: file size over the KB limit (even 1 KB over auto-rejects), wrong format (PNG/PDF instead of JPEG), a dark or patterned background, a black-and-white photo, or a blurry, low-resolution image. Fixing the KB size and switching the background to plain white resolves the vast majority of rejections.