If you're filling out an application for a West Bengal Public Service Commission exam - WBCS or any other WBPSC recruitment - one of the easiest places to get stuck is the photo and signature upload step. The WBPSC portal enforces fairly strict, specific limits on pixel size and file weight, and a scan that's even slightly outside those limits can throw an error or get your application flagged.
Here are the exact numbers from WBPSC's official application guidelines, so you know precisely what to prepare before you sit down to fill the form.
Photo Size Requirements
WBPSC requires a scanned, color passport-size photograph, sized at 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm, which works out to 138 x 177 pixels. The file must be saved in JPEG format and stay under 100 KB.
WBPSC's guidelines also specify a scanning resolution of around 100 DPI for the photo - this matters mainly at the scanning stage, affecting sharpness at that pixel size, rather than as a separate check once the file meets the pixel and KB targets. Note that a few individual WBPSC recruitments (such as some Food Sub-Inspector or specific service exams) have used a higher scanning DPI or slightly different dimensions in the past, so it's worth double-checking the specific notification for your exam alongside these general, most recently confirmed figures.
Signature Size Requirements
Your signature also needs to be uploaded as a JPEG file, and WBPSC's official guidelines cap it at not more than 20 KB. A commonly used pixel size matching the same 100 DPI standard as the photo is 138 x 59 pixels (roughly 3.5 cm x 1.5 cm), though the official guideline focuses mainly on the KB limit rather than a fixed pixel figure, so treat that pixel number as a safe target rather than an absolute rule.
Sign on a plain white sheet using a blue or black pen, then scan or photograph it in good, even light before cropping tightly around the signature. Avoid any visible paper texture, shadow, or ruled notebook lines in the background - WBPSC's upload validator can reject scans that look messy or aren't on a clean white background.
Common Mistakes That Get Applications Rejected
Applicants most often lose time because a phone camera photo, straight out of the gallery, is several megabytes - far above the 100 KB photo limit or the 20 KB signature limit. A second common mistake is saving the signature scan as a high-resolution PNG instead of a compressed JPEG, which both changes the format WBPSC accepts and inflates the file size. Some candidates also upload an old photograph that no longer resembles their current appearance, which can cause problems later at verification. And a fourth mistake is cropping the photo too tightly or too loosely, so it no longer matches the required 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm proportion even though the file size looks fine.
How to Resize Your Photo and Signature in 30 Seconds
Hitting the exact WBPSC numbers - 138 x 177 pixels and under 100 KB for the photo, under 20 KB for the signature - is far faster with a purpose-built tool than trial-and-error in a generic photo editor. SignResizer.com is a free tool that resizes and compresses your photo and signature to these exact WBPSC specifications in under 30 seconds, so you can finish your application without a failed upload holding you up.