Photo or signature upload rejected? Fix it step by step

Upload rejections come from a small set of technical causes that you can check yourself, plus content rules the tool cannot see. Work through the checks below in order.

1. Check the pixel dimensions

Open the exported file in your gallery — most phones show the dimensions. Compare with the requirement panel: for the Protean DSC table the photo is about 197 × 276 px (portrait) and the signature 354 × 157 px (landscape).

If your portal shows a different table, resize with the custom mode using the values the portal displays. Do not assume a third-party size chart is current.

2. Check the byte size, not the visual quality

Portals often reject files over the byte limit described in their instructions (20 KB photo / 10 KB signature on the DSC table). PanCard Resizer Online reports the exact bytes and reads KB as 1024 bytes.

If your file is a few KB over the portal's cap, rebuild the export with a custom cap slightly below it.

3. Check the file type

The DSC table asks for JPEG. Files exported as PNG or WebP can be rejected even when dimensions match. PanCard Resizer Online always encodes JPEG for these presets.

Renaming a PNG to .jpg does not convert it — portals and image viewers inspect the bytes.

4. Check the photo content yourself

Technical settings alone never guarantee acceptance. Portals may also check face visibility, a plain background, recentness, no stamps or writing, and clarity after compression. Review the official instructions for these content rules.

If the compressed photo looks blurry, start from a larger original and export again — heavy compression on a small crop is the usual cause of soft photos.

5. Still failing?

Some portals check the DPI metadata embedded in the JPEG. PanCard Resizer Online writes 200 DPI into JFIF and EXIF density tags for the DSC presets; if your portal rejects density, try rebuilding after confirming the exact wording there.

Report the exact rejection message (without personal data) so the preset can be re-checked.

Change log

2026-10-23 — Initial publication. Diagnostic sections added; no portal-specific rejection reasons asserted without evidence.

Sources

Protean — DSC-based PAN application guidelinesSource of the 200 DPI / 20 KB / 10 KB values referenced above.

Last reviewed 23 October 2026 by the PanCard Resizer Online spec owner.

Independent utility — not affiliated with or endorsed by the Income Tax Department, Protean (NSDL), UTIITSL, or any government body. Forms change; check the official pages before submitting.