200x230 photo size — the banking pixel box explained
200 x 230 px is the default photo box for banking forms — and it's the digital equivalent of a 4.5 x 3.5 cm print.
200x230 px photo specification
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Preferred dimensions | 200 x 230 pixels |
| Equivalent print size | 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm |
| File size | 20-50 KB, JPG / JPEG |
| Scanner setting | At least 200 dpi, True Colour |
| Used by | IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, IBPS RRB, SBI PO and SBI Clerk |
| Also used by | Rashtriya Raksha University document upload guidelines (20-50 KB, 200 x 230 px) |
| Background | Light-coloured, preferably white |
| Aspect ratio | 0.87 — a portrait shape slightly wider than a standard passport crop |
Source: Guidelines for scanning and Upload of Documents — CRP PO/MT-XV (IBPS) (CRP PO/MT-XV, June 2025 cycle). checked on 2026-09-06.
Why banks chose this odd little box
Two hundred by two hundred and thirty pixels looks arbitrary until you convert it. At roughly 145 dpi it is a 3.5 x 4.5 cm print — the standard Indian passport photo — which is exactly what the IBPS guidelines print alongside it. The box exists so that a scanned print and a digital photo end up the same shape on a call letter.
The ratio matters more than the exact pixels
Portals describe 200 x 230 as "preferred", and in practice a file a few pixels off is accepted while a file with the wrong aspect ratio looks obviously distorted. Crop to the shape first — a little wider than a standard passport crop — then resize to the exact numbers.
Where else it turns up
Beyond IBPS and SBI, we found the identical pair of 200 x 230 px and 20-50 KB in the Rashtriya Raksha University document upload guidelines. That is a useful signal: when a state or university recruitment does not publish its own numbers, the banking box is usually what their form was built around.
How it works
- Open the largest version of your photo you have.
- Crop head and shoulders to the 200:230 ratio, keeping the face centred.
- Resize to exactly 200 x 230 px.
- Export as JPG and confirm it lands between 20 and 50 KB.
- Check the eyes are level and there is a little space above the head.
- Save the file for reuse across banking applications in the same cycle.