UGC NET Photo and Signature Size (Dec 2026) Free Guide

As per NTA's Information Bulletin for UGC-NET December 2026, you upload a recent photo of 10-200 KB, in colour or black and white, with your face (ears included, no mask) filling about 80% of the image against a white background, plus a signature of 10-50 KB. A disability/UDID certificate, if applicable, is a PDF of 50-300 KB. The free image compressor gets the photo and signature into range without uploading them anywhere.

UGC-NET is held twice a year, and NTA reissues the bulletin each session. The December 2026 bulletin was released in October 2026, and NTA's public notice of 27 October 2026 extended the last date to apply to 31 October 2026; always check the latest one on ugcnet.nta.nic.in, because corrigenda can change details.

UGC NET December 2026 uploads

Upload	Rule, as per the Dec 2026 bulletin
Photo	Recent, colour or black and white, white background, 80% face incl. ears, no mask, 10-200 KB
Signature	10-50 KB
Disability/UDID certificate (if applicable)	PDF, 50-300 KB
Live photo	Captured during the form by webcam, or by phone via QR code

There are no pixel or centimetre dimensions in the bulletin. What gets checked is the file size range and whether the picture is clear and properly framed.

If you're fixing an upload after applying

Many UGC NET candidates come to this page after submitting, worried about a photo that looked too dark, too far away or blurry once it was on the confirmation page. The bulletin is firm on two points:

• Requests to change particulars and uploaded scanned images are not considered after the correction window closes, and corrections sent by post, email or WhatsApp are not accepted.
• What can be changed in the window depends on the fields NTA permits.

For the December 2026 session, the Information Bulletin lists the correction window as 2 to 4 November 2026. Because the application deadline was later extended to 31 October 2026, confirm the correction dates on ugcnet.nta.nic.in. Read the correction notice when it opens to see whether the photo and signature are editable, and have corrected files ready before the window starts so you're not doing it in a rush at midnight.

What usually goes wrong with UGC NET photos

• Face too small. A full-length or half-body photo fails the 80% rule even at the right file size. Crop in closer.
• Ears hidden. Hair, a dupatta or a scarf over the ears; the bulletin asks for ears to be visible.
• Background not white. A cream wall or a busy room. A plain white wall or a sheet pinned behind you is enough.
• Over-compressed. A photo squeezed to 12 KB to "play safe" can look blocky. The range goes up to 200 KB; there's no need to go that low.
• Signature over 50 KB. A phone photo of a signature is often 1-3 MB, many times the limit.

Preparing the photo (10-200 KB)

1. Take a fresh photo against a white wall in daylight, facing the light, shoulders square. On an iPhone, set Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible first: the tools below can't open HEIC photos.
2. In the free image cropper, choose Passport 35×45 mm and drag the box so your face fills most of it, from just above the hair to just below the chin. Save as JPG and click Crop image.
3. In the free image resizer, choose Pixels, keep Lock proportions ticked, and set the width to about 500 px. Click Resize image.
4. In the free image compressor, set Save as to JPG and Quality to 80%, then click Compress image. Expect roughly 40-120 KB.

A black and white photo is allowed for this session, but colour usually reads more clearly, and the same file can then be reused for exams that require colour.

Preparing the signature (10-50 KB)

1. Sign in black ink on plain white paper. Use your normal signature; the same one will appear on your admit card and attendance sheet.
2. Photograph it flat in good light, then crop tightly with the Free shape in the cropper.
3. Resize to about 400 px wide.
4. Compress as JPG at 80%. Check the size on the row: under 10 KB, resize to 500-600 px wide instead; over 50 KB, lower it to 70% or resize to 300 px.

A 20-35 KB signature is the comfortable middle. For more signature detail, see resize a signature for online forms.

Disability or UDID certificate as a PDF (50-300 KB)

Photograph the certificate flat, crop to its edges, resize to about 1200 px wide and compress as JPG to roughly 100-250 KB. Then open the free JPG to PDF converter, add the image, keep the page size on A4 and click Create PDF. The JPG goes into the PDF unchanged, so the PDF's size stays close to the image's.

The live photo

During the form you'll also take a live photo through the webcam, or with your phone by scanning the QR code shown. The bulletin asks for a light-coloured background, proper lighting and 80% face visibility, including ears, without a mask. Sit facing a window rather than with it behind you, so your face isn't in shadow.

Same files for other NTA exams

UGC NET's 50 KB signature cap matches CUET's, and the photo range is the same as JEE Main and NEET. If you're also filling one of those forms, see CUET photo and signature size. For general mistakes across exam forms, see why exam photos get rejected.

The quick way

Crop close, resize to a sensible width, and compress your photo and signature in the free image compressor until each is inside its range. It's free, there's nothing to install, and your photo never leaves your device.