Why might a passport photo be rejected here?

A standard passport photo is 3.5 × 4.5 cm, while the guidance we found for this portal describes a narrower 3.5 × 2.5 cm portrait. Applicants commonly report dimension mismatches as a cause of rejection.

Can the file be very small?

Applicants widely report that very small files get flagged as low quality even where only an upper limit is stated, so this tool keeps the result inside a range rather than compressing as far as possible. We cannot confirm an official floor.

I am applying through UTIITSL, not Protean.

The guidance we found describes a square 213 × 213 photo for UTIITSL, which is a different shape. There is a separate tool for it. Check which portal your form belongs to before choosing.

ID & document photos · Protean (formerly NSDL)

PAN photo for the Protean (NSDL) portal

Portrait 3.5 × 2.5 cm — narrower than a standard passport photo, which catches people out. Your photo never leaves this device.

Print size: 1 × 1 in
Pixels: 197 × 276
Head height: 50–72 %
File size: 20 KB – 50 KB

Upload your photo

JPG · PNG · HEIC

Fit your head to the oval

Drag to move · pinch or slide to resize

Size 100%

Make your head fill the oval — hair near the top edge, chin near the bottom. It does not need to be exact. Anywhere between the solid and dashed outlines is within spec.

Check and download

Compress to an exact size

Every candidate is measured, not guessed

Target size (KB)

Minimum width (px)

The engine will not go below the minimum width, because under it the photo stops meeting the portal's own spec. It also will not go under 20 KB — Protean (formerly NSDL) rejects files that are too small.

What Protean (formerly NSDL) requires

3.5 cm height × 2.5 cm width — portrait, not the usual passport shape
197 × 276 pixels at 200 DPI
JPEG, between 20 KB and 50 KB
Recent colour photograph, head and shoulders centred, ears visible
Plain white background, neutral expression, no sunglasses

Source: https://www.protean-tinpan.com/ · last checked 2026-08-13

We re-check these figures roughly every quarter, but Protean (formerly NSDL) can change them without notice and different portals sometimes ask for different limits. Confirm the numbers on the form you are filing before you submit.

Common questions

Why might a passport photo be rejected here?: A standard passport photo is 3.5 × 4.5 cm, while the guidance we found for this portal describes a narrower 3.5 × 2.5 cm portrait. Applicants commonly report dimension mismatches as a cause of rejection.
Can the file be very small?: Applicants widely report that very small files get flagged as low quality even where only an upper limit is stated, so this tool keeps the result inside a range rather than compressing as far as possible. We cannot confirm an official floor.
I am applying through UTIITSL, not Protean.: The guidance we found describes a square 213 × 213 photo for UTIITSL, which is a different shape. There is a separate tool for it. Check which portal your form belongs to before choosing.