How to prepare your photo, signature and documents for an online application

Step by step

1. Make the photo. Open Passport Size Photo Maker, add a photo and drag the crop box until your face sits inside the guide. Pick the size your application asks for, and choose the white background option if the rules want one.Open Passport Size Photo Maker
2. Fit the photo and signature to the limits. In Photo and Signature Resizer for Forms, type the minimum and maximum KB, and the width and height in pixels if the form states them. If your signature photo has a messy background, first clean it with Make Signature Transparent.Open Photo and Signature Resizer for Forms
3. Scan certificates and ID. Photograph each page with Scan to PDF. The corners are found for you, the page is straightened and the clean-up removes shadows.Open Scan to PDF
4. Get one PDF under the limit. If the portal wants a single PDF with a size cap, use JPG to PDF Under a Size Limit for photos, or Compress PDF to 1MB for a PDF you already have.Open JPG to PDF Under a Size Limit

What do the form's rules usually ask for?

Online application portals are strict, and a rejected file usually costs you a retry rather than a penalty. Before you touch a photo, write down the limits for each file: the type (JPG or PDF), the smallest and largest size in KB, and any width and height in pixels.

Keep the numbers beside you while you work. The tools below ask for exactly these values, so there is nothing to guess.

How do I prepare a photo and signature?

A plain light wall and even daylight give the cleanest photo. Stand a little away from the wall so your shadow does not fall on it, and look straight at the camera. Passport Size Photo Maker does not check your photo against any official rules, so compare the result with your application's guidance on background, expression and glasses.

For the signature, sign with a dark pen on plain white paper, photograph it from straight above and crop away the empty paper. The resizer crops from the centre to your pixel size, so keep the signature centred.

• Enter the minimum and maximum KB exactly as the form states them.
• Check the preview for size, pixel size and quality before you download.
• Name the files clearly, for example photo and signature, so you pick the right one in the portal's file field.

How do I put certificates and ID in one PDF?

Lay each page on a darker surface in daylight, hold the phone flat above it and keep all four corners in view. Scan to PDF places the corners for you and you can drag them if it misses. Clean suits most certificates; Black & white suits plain text pages.

Scan to PDF also has a setting to keep the PDF under a size. For several documents, set the same limit there, or make the PDF first and shrink it afterwards.

What should I check before I attach files?

Open every finished file once. Read the numbers on the scans and make sure no page is cut off or upside down. A file that looks fine at thumbnail size can hide a blurry line of text.

Keep your originals and the prepared copies in separate folders, so a later application starts from the originals.

Questions