CDS (Combined Defence Services) Photo & Signature Size
The Combined Defence Services examination is the graduate entry route to the Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Officers Training Academy. A photograph already stored in UPSC One Time Registration still has to meet the current rule: a JPG of 20–200 KB at roughly 75% face coverage, with three vertically stacked signatures in a separate JPG of 20–100 KB and 350–500 pixels. UPSC publishes no pixel size, aspect ratio, DPI or name/date strip for the photo, so review an existing upload against the current instructions.
Reviewed by Jaspal Kumar, easyPhoto developer
Photo requirement
- File size
- 20–200 KB
- Dimensions
- —
- Format
- JPG
Signature requirement
- File size
- 20–100 KB
- Dimensions
- —
- Format
- JPG
- Ink
- Black ink on plain white paper
Resize your CDS photo & signature
Drop a photo, or click to browse
A clear, front-facing photo works best
JPG · PNG · HEIC · processed on your device, never uploaded
Before you upload
Read the NDA and CDS photo and signature guide.
Application-specific notes for CDS
- A live photograph capture is mandatory before the application can be submitted, taken through the device camera or by scanning a QR code with a phone. Preparing an upload beforehand is still worth doing, but it fills a different field on the form.
- UPSC checks face coverage, not only file size: the photograph must show about 75% face coverage, and the instruction sheet prints rejected samples whose only fault is a face too small in the frame. The file is jpg, saved as photo, on a plain white background, head centred with both ears visible.
- Explicitly refused: a photograph in uniform, dark or coloured glasses, shadows on the face or behind it, hair across the eyes, and a photograph that has been signed.
- A separate signature file accompanies the photograph and is subject to its own limit. Sign in your ordinary running hand on plain unlined paper and scan the signature area alone; a photograph of the whole sheet carries paper texture that survives compression badly and reads as a smudge at small sizes.
About this exam
CDS is conducted by UPSC through the upsconline.nic.in portal, and the portal's photo and signature instructions apply to every UPSC examination rather than giving CDS its own band. A live photograph is also captured during the application and matched against the uploaded photo. The signature upload must show the candidate's signature three times vertically on one plain-white image.
CDS inherits UPSC's portal instructions
Combined Defence Services candidates prepare a 20–200 KBphotograph and a 20–100 KB signature file under the common UPSC instructions. Both are JPG; UPSC does not publish a fixed photo pixel canvas, aspect ratio, DPI value, or digital name/date strip for this workflow.
Check the CDS preview as its own submission
The CDS form includes UPSC's live-photograph step and expects one signature image containing three vertically arranged signatures on white paper. Even if you also applied for NDA, reopen and review the CDS upload preview and current examination notice; shared technical limits do not mean one application record completes the other.