SSC CGL / CHSL Photo & Signature Size 2026

If you've applied for an SSC exam recently and tried to upload a saved photo, you already know the problem: the portal no longer lets you. The SSC official portal now requires you to capture your photo live, through your webcam or phone camera, at the time of filling the form. This changes how preparation works. Here are the exact specs for CGL and CHSL, how live capture works, and how to prepare your signature so neither file gets bounced.

What does SSC CGL require for photo and signature?

Per the SSC's photo and signature upload instructions (updated August 2024, ssc.gov.in), the confirmed requirements for SSC CGL and most SSC examinations are:

A note on pixel dimensions: coaching sources report two different figures — 275 × 354 px and 200 × 230 px for the photo (236 × 79 px and 140 × 60 px for the signature). Since the live-capture system resizes automatically, the pixel value matters less than the KB band; but verify the exact figure in the official notification PDF when applying.

Why does SSC now require live photo capture — and what does that mean for you?

Since the current portal iteration, SSC no longer provides a file-upload field for the photo. The application form opens a live camera interface — you take the shot right there, and the portal saves it directly. The reason is fraud prevention: live capture ensures the photo is recent, matches the candidate at the time of application, and cannot be someone else's image.

In practical terms, preparation shifts from “have a file ready to upload” to “have the right setup ready before you open the form.” Here's what to set up:

• Background: sit in front of a plain white wall. Not cream, not light grey — white. The portal's validator checks this. If your wall is off-white or painted, hang a sheet or stand in front of a door.
• Light: face a window or a desk lamp. Even light across the face; no harsh shadows on one side, no backlight from a window behind you.
• Camera: if your laptop webcam takes blurry photos, use a phone instead. Most SSC-compatible browsers support the mobile camera on the portal; if not, switch to desktop Chrome and grant webcam permission when the browser prompts.
• Glasses: remove them before starting — the portal rejects photos with glasses.
• Dress: wear the formal attire you plan to use in the photo before opening the form. Once the session starts, there's no easy way to pause it.

The live capture produces the photo file internally; the SSC portal then resizes and compresses it to fit the 20–50 KB band. Your job is to ensure the source image is correctly lit, correctly framed, and against the right background — the system handles the file itself.

What background and dress code does the portal expect?

SSC is stricter about background than most other Indian exam portals. The official instruction is “plain white” — coloured backgrounds, cream, or light grey are all grounds for rejection, even if they look neutral to the eye. The automated validator checks the pixel distribution behind the face.

• Background: plain white only. No patterns, no shadows, no furniture visible.
• Attire: formal — a plain, dark-coloured shirt or blouse reads cleanly. Avoid white tops in front of a white background, as the shoulder edges blur together.
• Glasses: strictly prohibited. Not just tinted lenses — all glasses, including prescription ones.
• Head covering: banned except for religious reasons (turban, hijab). If worn consistently in your identity documents, it will be accepted; otherwise, remove it.
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, both eyes fully open. Looking directly at the camera.
• Framing: head and the top of your shoulders should fill roughly 70–80% of the frame. Don't stand too far back.

If you need to fix an existing photo's background to white before using it as a reference during live capture, the white background tool can show you what the compliant version looks like.

How do I prepare my signature for SSC?

The signature is uploaded as a regular file (not live capture), so you can prepare and check it before applying. The portal's validator checks three things: file size in the 10–20 KB band, clean white background (no visible paper texture or shadow), and signature style (all-capitals are flagged and rejected).

The right process:

• Sign on plain white A4 paper with a black ballpoint pen. Avoid gel pens — they can bleed slightly when photographed. Sign in your usual cursive or running hand across an area of roughly 4.0 × 2.0 cm.
• Photograph or scan it flat in good, even light. Place the paper on a table, hold your phone directly above it, and make sure there are no shadows falling across the signature. If the background in the image looks slightly grey or yellow, the portal will reject it.
• Clean and resize using the SSC signature resizer. It removes the paper background, trims white space around the signature, and compresses the result to fit inside the 10–20 KB band — one step from photo to portal-ready file.

One more thing: if your name is short and you tend to sign in block capitals — RAHUL, for instance — the portal will reject it. Write your name in a flowing cursive style, even if you don't normally sign that way for official documents.

What are the most common reasons SSC photos and signatures get rejected?

The portal runs automated checks on every upload. It returns a generic “not as per specification” message without telling you which check failed. These are the six causes, in order of frequency:

The KB floor is the most missed. Candidates who compress aggressively to stay under 50 KB sometimes land at 8–12 KB — and the portal rejects those too. A file rejected for being too small looks identical in the error message to one rejected for being too large. For the full breakdown of rejection patterns across all Indian exam portals, see why exam photos and signatures get rejected.

Do SSC CGL and SSC CHSL have the same photo requirements?

For photo requirements, CGL and CHSL currently match: 20–50 KB, JPG, white background, live portal capture. For the signature, most cycles also match — 10–20 KB, black ink on white — but at least one CHSL notification has specified a different physical width for the signature field compared to CGL. The safest approach: download your specific notification from ssc.gov.in and read the photo/signature section before applying.

IBPS PO uses the same 20–50 KB photo and 10–20 KB signature spec. If you're applying to both, one well-prepared signature file will cover both portals. For the IBPS PO checklist, see the IBPS PO 2026 photo & signature checklist.

How to prepare your SSC photo and signature — complete workflow

For the photo, the work happens before the form opens, not inside it:

1. Set up your space. Plain white wall or hung white sheet. Window light or desk lamp facing you. No glasses. Formal attire.
2. Open the application form on the SSC portal and navigate to the photo section. The portal will prompt your browser for webcam or camera access — grant it. Use your phone camera if your laptop's webcam produces blurry images.
3. Capture and confirm. The portal saves the photo automatically after a brief review step. Check that the background looks clean white in the preview before confirming.

For the signature, prepare it offline first:

1. Sign on white A4 paper in black ballpoint ink, cursive hand, roughly 4.0 × 2.0 cm.
2. Photograph flat in even light; check for shadows.
3. Run it through the SSC signature resizer. It removes the paper background, trims the edges, and outputs a clean JPG in the 10–20 KB band. Everything runs in your browser — your signature file is never uploaded to a server.
4. Save the file with a clear name (e.g. ssc-signature-2026.jpg) so you can find it when the form opens.

For exams that additionally require your name and date printed on the photo — UPSC and Indian Army, not CGL or CHSL — see how to add name and date on an exam photo. The general photo and signature size requirements across all major exams are in the exam photo and signature size guide.