Exam Photo Rejected? 10 Common Reasons and How to Fix Each

Most rejections come from a short list of predictable problems. Some are caught by the portal the moment you upload; others are caught later by a person checking your application, which is worse because you may not find out until the admit card stage. Work through this list before you submit.

Problems the Portal Catches Immediately

1. Wrong pixel size. The notification asks for, say, 200×230 pixels and the file is 413×531. Crop to the exact size, and crop rather than stretch — stretching makes faces look too wide or too thin.

1. File size outside the KB range. A 150KB file for a 20–50KB slot is rejected, and so is a 12KB file when the minimum is 20KB. Aim for the middle of the range, not the edge.

1. Not a real JPG. Renaming photo.png to photo.jpg does not change the format inside the file, and many portals check the contents. Re-save or convert the image instead.

1. iPhone HEIC files. iPhones save photos as HEIC by default, which most portals do not accept. Convert to JPG first — see HEIC vs JPG on iPhone.

1. Sideways or upside-down photo. Phones store rotation as a tag that some portals ignore, so a photo that looks upright on your phone arrives sideways. Re-save it with a tool that applies the rotation to the pixels.

Problems a Verifier Catches Later

1. Face too small, cut off or tilted. Your face and the top of your shoulders should fill most of the frame, looking straight at the camera.

1. Too dark, too bright or harsh shadows. Take the photo in daylight facing a window, not under a ceiling light and not with the window behind you. See Taking Exam Photos at Home.

1. Background not plain. Most notifications ask for a plain white or light background. A patterned wall, a door frame or a visible room behind you is a common reason for rejection at verification.

1. Glare on glasses, caps, dark glasses. Remove anything that hides your eyes or forehead unless your notification allows it.

1. Old or wrong requirements. Rules change between recruitment cycles, and different posts under the same body can differ. A size copied from last year's form, or from a website, can be out of date. Always check the current notification.

Signature Problems

• Wrong ink colour. Many notifications specify black ink (some allow dark blue). Follow the wording in yours.
• Signature too small in the box. A tiny signature surrounded by empty paper is hard to read at 140×60 pixels. Crop close so the signature fills most of the box.
• Faint or grey ink. Light pressure or a scan in poor light makes the signature fade. Sign firmly and scan in daylight, then increase contrast if needed.
• Signature in CAPITAL letters. Several recruitment bodies, including IBPS, do not accept block-letter signatures. Use your normal running signature.
• Wrong shape. Signature boxes are wide rectangles. Squeezing a signature into a square, or a square scan into a wide box, distorts it.

Before You Click Submit

• Open the downloaded file and check its pixel size and KB size.
• Look at it at 100% zoom: is your face sharp and is the signature readable?
• Compare every number with the current notification, not a guide or preset.
• Keep the original photo so you can make a new copy if the portal still refuses it.

KbSnap's tools crop to an exact pixel size, compress to a KB range, convert HEIC and fix rotation in your browser, and show the final size before you download — but the requirement you enter should always come from your notification.