CDS photo & signature size
Prepare both files to the CDS specification — correct pixel size, inside the KB range, ready to upload.
The specification
| Photograph | Signature | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 200 × 230 px | 400 × 100 px |
| File size | 20–300 KB | 20–300 KB |
| Format | JPG / JPEG | JPG / JPEG |
| Background | Plain white | Plain white paper |
| Ink | — | Black, handwritten |
CDS uses the UPSC platform and its upload rules, including the printed name-and-date requirement that UPSC has applied in recent cycles.
Specific to CDS. Prepare one UPSC-compliant photograph and it will serve CDS, NDA and Civil Services in the same year.
A note on the 20 KB signature minimum. At 400 × 100 pixels a signature is only 40,000 pixels. Measured against a real scan, JPEG tops out around 13.6 KB at maximum quality — reaching 20 KB would require the image to be closer to random noise than to handwriting. The two published figures cannot both be met. Prepare the file to the correct 400 × 100 pixel size, which is what the portal validates, and do not degrade the signature chasing the byte count.
Always check your own notification. Union Public Service Commission revises these between cycles and the figures published on third-party sites go stale. The tool above accepts whatever the current rule is — and if your notification differs, the exact KB tool and resizer will hit any target you type in.
Before you upload
Prepare the photograph against a plain white wall in even daylight, taken by someone else from about 1.5 metres — not a selfie. Sign on blank unlined paper with a medium ballpoint and photograph the sheet straight down. Transfer the original file rather than sending it through WhatsApp, which re-compresses it.
The six mistakes that actually cause rejections, and how to fix each one, are covered in why exam photo uploads get rejected.
Questions
What is the CDS photo size?
The commonly published requirement is 200 × 230 pixels in JPG format, between 20 KB and 300 KB, on a plain white background. Confirm against the notification you are applying under, as portals adjust this between cycles.
What is the CDS signature size?
400 × 100 pixels in JPG format, between 20 KB and 300 KB. Sign in black ink on plain unlined white paper.
Anything specific to CDS I should watch for?
Prepare one UPSC-compliant photograph and it will serve CDS, NDA and Civil Services in the same year.
My photo is rejected even though the size looks right.
The three usual causes are a background that is not plain, a face that fills too little of the frame, and a file just outside the permitted range. Some portals also enforce a minimum size, so a file that is too small is rejected as well as one that is too large.
Can I use a phone photo?
Yes, if the background is plain and the lighting is even. Have someone else take it from about 1.5 metres — a selfie at arm's length distorts facial proportions and some portals detect it.
Does the signature have to be in black ink?
Most Indian portals require black ink on white paper, and several reject blue. Never use a typed or digitally drawn signature — that is grounds for rejection on its own.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything is prepared inside your browser and never transmitted. That matters for documents attached to an identity.