PAN card photo size — 20 KB photo, 10 KB signature (Protean)
PAN has two of the tightest limits: photo max 20 KB and signature max 10 KB — and the signature box is portrait shaped, 2 cm wide by 4.5 cm tall.
PAN card photo specification
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Photograph size | 3.5 x 2.5 cm at 200 DPI, colour (Protean / NSDL e-application) |
| Photograph file size | Maximum 20 KB, JPEG (no minimum stated) |
| Signature size | 2 cm x 4.5 cm at 200 DPI, colour — a portrait box |
| Signature file size | Maximum 10 KB, JPEG |
| UTIITSL digital spec | None published — UTIITSL states only the 3.5 x 2.5 cm pasted print |
| Physical form route | Affix two identical 3.5 x 2.5 cm photographs; sign across the photo in the left box and below the photo in the right box |
| Second signature | Sign the box at the bottom right of page 2 of the physical form |
| Background | Not stated in the fetched pages |
Source: PAN Card Application — Instructions (DSC), Protean eGov Technologies / TIN (page references 1 December 2016 and the Income-tax Rules 1962). checked on 2026-09-06. UTIITSL publishes no digital upload spec at all, only the 3.5 x 2.5 cm pasted print. The '213 x 213 px / 30-50 KB' UTIITSL figures circulating on third-party sites could not be confirmed.
Two agencies, one honest answer
PAN applications go through Protean eGov Technologies (formerly NSDL) or UTIITSL, and only one of them publishes digital limits. The Protean instructions page gives a clear table: photograph 3.5 x 2.5 cm at 200 DPI, maximum 20 KB, JPEG; signature 2 x 4.5 cm at 200 DPI, maximum 10 KB, JPEG. The UTIITSL guidelines describe only the physical pasted photograph and say nothing about uploads.
A 10 KB signature is genuinely hard
Ten kilobytes is the smallest budget any Indian portal asks for. The trick is not quality reduction, it is cropping: a scan that includes half an A4 sheet spends most of its bytes on white paper. Crop to the ink, keep the portrait 2 x 4.5 cm shape, and the file drops naturally.
The physical form has its own signing rules
If you file on paper, affix two identical 3.5 x 2.5 cm photographs. Sign across the photograph in the left box, sign below the photograph in the right box, and sign the box at the bottom right of page 2. Getting any of those three wrong is the most common reason a paper PAN form comes back from the counter.
How it works
- Take a colour photo in even light with your face centred.
- Crop to 3.5 x 2.5 cm proportions and resize at 200 DPI.
- Export as JPEG under 20 KB.
- Sign inside a 2 cm wide by 4.5 cm tall portrait box on white paper.
- Scan the signature at 200 DPI and export it as JPEG under 10 KB.
- For the physical form, print two identical photographs and follow the signing rules for each box.