Kerala PSC photograph requirements
| Dimensions | 150 W × 200 H pixels, exactly |
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| File size | Maximum 30 KB — no minimum is stated |
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| Format | JPG |
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| Name & date band | Mandatory — two lines, black text, white rectangular background, at the bottom |
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| If it is missing | Application summarily rejected, non-appealable |
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| Face analysis | Thulasi checks posture and position on upload |
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Thulasi's wording on the upload screen: “Your name and date of photo taken must be inscripted (in two lines) in black color text with white rectangular background at the bottom of the Photograph.”
Kerala means it about the name band
Several commissions ask for a name and date on the photograph. Kerala is the only one in our set that tells you, twice, on two separate screens, what happens if you skip it. Before the upload form even appears you must tick a box next to this: “Your application will be summarily rejected (non-appealable), if the photograph does not bear your name and date at which it was taken.” After the upload, the preview screen adds that all applications attached with this Photograph will be rejected in due course of processing.
That second sentence is the one worth pausing on. The Thulasi profile is a single photograph shared across every application you have made. A bad photograph is not one rejected form — it is every form attached to it.
150 pixels is not much room for a name
This is the hard part of the page and the reason most generic resizers cannot do it. The entire image is 150 pixels wide. Into the bottom of it you have to fit two lines of black text on white: your name, and the date. A short name sets comfortably. A long one has to shrink, and past a certain point the letters stop surviving JPEG compression at all — at which point you have a photograph that technically bears your name and fails the declaration that it is clear and legible.
So this tool sizes the type to fit and then tells you how small it had to go. If the name will not set legibly it says so instead of quietly producing an unreadable band. Thulasi permits initials at the end or in the middle of the name, which is usually the way out.
The name itself has rules
From Thulasi's preview screen: the name must be as in your official records, the initials must be either at the end or in the middle of the name, and salutations such as Mr, Mrs., Dr., Br., Sr., Fr., Rev. and Adv. should be avoided. The tool flags a salutation or a leading initial as you type, because once the text is compressed into the image it cannot be edited out.
It is also worth knowing that the name you type here is carried onward: Thulasi says the name read from the photograph will be used in the further steps of the Registration Process.
Kerala's own documents disagree about how recent the photo must be
We found three different answers in official Kerala PSC sources, and we are not going to pick one for you:
| Thulasi declaration | Taken within one year |
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| Recent notifications | Candidates creating a new profile: taken within six months |
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| Tips to Applicants page | One taken after 31.12.2010 |
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The six-month rule is the tightest, so a photograph that satisfies it satisfies all three. Check the notification you are applying under.
The ten-year validity has the same problem in reverse. The Tips to Applicants page and several 2026 notifications say the photograph is valid for ten years from the date of uploading; notifications 573/2025 and 468/2025 say ten years from the date the photograph was taken. For a photo taken in 2016 and uploaded in 2018 that is a two-year difference in when your profile stops accepting applications.
No minimum file size
Kerala caps the photograph at 30 KB and states no floor, so nothing here is padded. That contrast is worth drawing because the other KPSC does the opposite.
Kerala, not Karnataka
Two commissions answer to KPSC. This page is the Kerala Public Service Commission, at keralapsc.gov.in, whose registration portal is Thulasi at thulasi.psc.kerala.gov.in and whose published contact address is kpsc.psc@kerala.gov.in. The Karnataka Public Service Commission is at kpsc.kar.nic.in and applies through kpsconline.karnataka.gov.in.
Their specifications have almost nothing in common. Karnataka publishes no dimensions at all and sets a minimum file size on every upload — 50 KB to 200 KB for the photograph. Kerala publishes exact pixel dimensions, caps the file at 30 KB and states no minimum. A file built for one is wrong for the other in every respect. Our Karnataka page is here.
Other Kerala uploads
Same application, different file. Each has its own limits — they are not interchangeable.
Frequently asked questions
What size photo does Kerala PSC need?
Exactly 150 pixels wide by 200 pixels tall, in JPG, and no more than 30 KB. Thulasi's upload screen states all three. Unlike most commissions Kerala gives an exact pixel size rather than centimetres, so there is nothing to work out and no DPI to guess.
Does my Kerala PSC photo really need my name and the date on it?
Yes, and Kerala states the consequence more bluntly than any other commission we have built for. Thulasi's own wording is that your application will be summarily rejected, non-appealable, if the photograph does not bear your name and the date at which it was taken. The preview screen repeats that all applications attached to that photograph will be rejected in due course of processing.
How exactly should the name and date be printed?
In two lines, in black text, on a white rectangular background, at the bottom of the photograph. That is Thulasi's specification word for word. The date field on the preview screen is formatted DD/MM/YYYY.
Is there a minimum file size?
No. Kerala states 30 KB as a maximum and gives no floor, so this tool does not pad the file. That is worth saying because the Karnataka commission, which shares the abbreviation KPSC, sets a 50 KB minimum on its photograph - a file that would be too small there is perfectly acceptable here.
My name is long and the text comes out tiny. What do I do?
That is a real constraint, not a bug in your photo. The whole image is only 150 pixels wide, and the name has to fit inside it. This tool shrinks the type to fit and then measures whether it is still legible, because Kerala requires you to declare that your name and date in the photograph are clear and legible. If it warns you, use the name form your official records allow that is shortest - Thulasi lets initials sit at the end or in the middle.
What name should I use?
The one in your official records. Thulasi's preview screen adds two rules: initials must be either at the end or in the middle of the name, and salutations such as Mr, Mrs., Dr., Br., Sr., Fr., Rev. and Adv. should be avoided. The name in the photograph is also the name carried into the rest of your registration, so it is worth getting right before you print it into the image.
How recent must the photograph be?
Kerala's own documents give three different answers, so check the notification you are applying under. The declaration you tick in Thulasi says the photograph was taken within one year. Recent notifications say candidates creating a new profile must upload a photograph taken within six months. The Tips to Applicants page on keralapsc.gov.in says it should be one taken after 31.12.2010. The six-month rule is the tightest, so a photograph that satisfies it satisfies all three.
How long does the photo stay valid?
Ten years - but Kerala's documents disagree about when the ten years starts. The Tips to Applicants page and several 2026 notifications say from the date of uploading. Notifications 573/2025 and 468/2025 say from the date the photograph was taken. For a photo taken in 2016 and uploaded in 2018 that is a two-year difference in when your profile stops letting you apply.
Why was my photo rejected for face position?
Thulasi analyses the uploaded photograph for posture and position. Its own note says differently abled candidates with face deformation may not be able to upload successfully, and that such candidates can bypass the analysis by accepting a declaration - while bypassing face detection by other candidates leads to invalidation. If you are not in that category and the check fails, re-crop so the face is centred and upright rather than ticking the bypass.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. The crop, the name band and the compression all run in your browser on your own device. Your photograph is never transmitted.
SourceRequirements on this page are quoted from the new-registration procedure published by the Kerala Public Service Commission (linked from its OTR Instructions page), and from the Thulasi upload screens reproduced inside it. Kerala states exact pixel dimensions, a JPG format and a 30 KB ceiling; it states no minimum file size, no DPI and no ink colour.
That document carries no version number or date and its screenshots are footed 2012, so check the notification you are applying under — Kerala’s own sources disagree on how recent the photograph must be and on when its ten-year validity starts, and both disagreements are set out above. This is Kerala PSC (keralapsc.gov.in), not Karnataka PSC (kpsc.kar.nic.in), which shares the abbreviation KPSC and has an entirely different specification. We are not affiliated with either.