GATE application photo
Resize a photograph for the GATE online application portal.
Prepare your file
JPEG, PNG, WebP or BMP. You can also drag a file here.
The file stays in this tab. It is not uploaded.
This specification changes between application cycles
GATE is administered by a different IIT each year and the application portal specification is republished each cycle. Check the instructions on the GOAPS portal for your exam year.
Last reviewed .
What this form requires
Official rules and our own recommendations are labelled separately, so you can tell which is which.
- Official requirementJPEG format colour photograph.
- Official requirementStandard passport-style framing with the full face towards the camera and both ears visible.
- Official requirementThe photograph must be recent. Past cycles have asked for one taken within the previous six months.
- Official requirementThe signature is uploaded as a separate file with its own dimensions and size limits.
- DocuFix recommendationA 10-200 KB band is used here as a safe default. Confirm against the portal for your cycle.
- DocuFix recommendationGOAPS keeps your uploaded files against your enrolment, so a photo rejected at verification means re-uploading rather than re-applying. It is worth getting right the first time.
What causes rejections
- Reusing a specification from a previous year’s GATE cycle. The organising institute rotates annually and the portal instructions are republished each time.
- A photograph taken against a patterned, dark or textured background rather than a plain light one.
- Uploading a scan of a printed photo, where paper texture and scanner glare show up under compression.
- Uploading the signature file into the photograph field, or vice versa. They have different dimensions and the portal validates each separately.
What this tool can and cannot check
Checked automatically
- Exact pixel dimensions
- File size 10–200 KB
- JPEG output in the sRGB colour space
- That the file is a real image, not a renamed HEIC or PDF
Judged by a person or the portal
- Whether your expression is neutral
- Whether hair or a head covering obscures your face
- Whether the photo is recent enough
- Head height, which the crop guide targets but does not measure
- Whether the photograph is genuinely of you
Passing every automated check here does not mean your application will be accepted. It means the file will not fail for a technical reason.
How your image is handled
Your file is read into this page, decoded, drawn onto a canvas at the target size and re-encoded. Every step runs on your device. No network request carries the image, so nothing is stored on our side and nothing can be recovered from us later.
Re-encoding through a canvas also converts the file to the sRGB colour space and strips the original EXIF metadata, including any location tag your camera wrote into it.
Questions
- Can I use a selfie for GATE?
- It is a poor choice. Arm’s-length photos distort facial proportions, because the lens is close to your face, and they usually have uneven lighting from being held at an angle. Have someone photograph you from two or three metres away against a plain wall, with the camera at eye level.
- Why does this page not give one exact pixel size?
- GATE is run by a different IIT each year and the application portal specification is republished with each cycle. A figure fixed here would be right this year and wrong the next, at a point where you have no easy way to check. The GOAPS instruction panel for your exam year is the authority; use the custom size tool to match whatever it states.
- Is my photograph uploaded to DocuFix?
- No. The file is read into this page, resized on your device using the browser canvas, and handed straight back to you as a download. No network request carries it, so there is no copy of it on our side.
Sources
- [1]GATE organising institute — GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS)
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will check it against the source.