Most Indian exam portals want a signature roughly 6 cm wide by 2 cm tall — a wide strip, about three times longer than it is high. Here is that figure in every unit you might be asked for, and what to do when the form states pixels instead.
Signature dimensions in cm, mm and pixels
| Unit | Standard signature box |
|---|---|
| Centimetres | 6.0 × 2.0 cm |
| Millimetres | 60 × 20 mm |
| Inches | 2.36 × 0.79 in |
| Aspect ratio | 3 : 1 |
| Pixels at 300 DPI | 709 × 236 px |
| Pixels at 96 DPI | 227 × 76 px |
| Commonly stated as | 140 × 60 px or 250 × 80 px |
The stated pixel figures are not exact conversions of 6 × 2 cm — 140 × 60 is a 2.33:1 ratio, and 250 × 80 is 3.13:1. When a form gives pixels, follow the pixels and resize to that figure directly.
By exam
| Exam | Signature dimensions | File size |
|---|---|---|
| SSC (CGL / CHSL / MTS) | 6.0 × 2.0 cm | 10–20 KB |
| RRB / NTPC / Group D | 4.5 × 1.5 cm | 10–40 KB |
| India Post GDS | 6.0 × 2.0 cm | 10–20 KB |
| GATE | 250 × 80 px | 5–200 KB |
| PAN card (NSDL / UTI) | 2.0 × 4.5 cm | 10–20 KB |
| UPSC | 6.0 × 2.0 cm | 20–300 KB |
| NEET / NTA | 6.0 × 2.0 cm | 4–30 KB |
Exam boards revise these figures between cycles, sometimes without announcing it. Treat this page as a starting point and confirm against the notification PDF for your own application.
Signing inside the right box
The easiest way to get the ratio right is to create it on paper before you photograph anything. Draw a light pencil rectangle 6 cm by 2 cm on plain white unlined paper, sign inside it, then erase or crop out the pencil lines.
- Use black or dark blue ink. Blue is marginally safer because it reads as an original rather than a photocopy.
- Fill the box. A small signature floating in the middle wastes the frame and looks thin once scaled down.
- Keep it to one line. Signatures that run onto a second line break the 3:1 ratio.
- Photograph flat in daylight, not under a ceiling light that casts your hand’s shadow across the paper.
Then run it through the signature resize tool, which crops to your exam’s ratio and lands inside the KB band in the same step.
Why the wrong shape gets rejected
Portals check the aspect ratio because a signature that is nearly square is usually a badly-cropped photo with a lot of surrounding paper in it — and at the small display size used on an admit card, that renders the actual signature almost invisible. A strip crop guarantees the ink fills the space.
Frequently asked questions
What is the signature size in cm for online forms?
Most Indian exam portals ask for about 6 cm wide by 2 cm tall, a 3:1 strip. RRB commonly uses 4.5 by 1.5 cm and PAN card applications use a 2 by 4.5 cm box. Check your own notification.
How do I resize my signature width and height?
Upload the scan to the signature resize tool, pick your exam, and it crops to the required ratio and compresses into the allowed KB range in one step.
How many pixels is 6cm x 2cm?
At 300 DPI it is 709 by 236 pixels. At the 96 DPI browsers assume, it is about 227 by 76. Many portals simply state 140 by 60 or 250 by 80 instead — follow their figure when they give one.
Can I sign on my phone screen instead of paper?
Avoid it. Several boards treat a finger-drawn signature as a mismatch against the one you write at the exam centre, and that is a rejection at verification rather than at upload.