Photo is not clear or face not visible: how to fix it
The form or the scrutiny team decided your face can't be seen well enough. Usually the picture is blurred, too dark, taken from too far away, or something covers part of the face. Pick your exam and drop the photo. The tool checks whether it finds a face, how much of the frame the face fills, and whether the picture looks sharp and evenly lit. If the photo itself is blurred, take a new one; resizing can't make a blurred photo sharp.
The tool runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. Updated 5 November 2026.
1. Choose
- Pixels:
- about 200 × 230 px
- File size:
- 10–200 KB
- Format:
- JPG
- Background:
- white
- Face share:
- about 80% of the height (from the notice)
Source: Information Bulletin — NEET (UG) 2026 (8 Feb 2026), checked 19 Jul 2026
Change the output size
The notice gives an approximate size, so you can pick another one close to it.
2. Fix
JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC (where the browser can open it). Large phone photos are fine.
Nothing is uploaded. Everything runs on this device.
What "Photo is not clear / face not visible" means
The KB, format and pixels can all be right and the photo can still be refused. This rejection is about the picture itself: the people checking the form could not see your face clearly enough to match it with you on exam day.
SSC's CGL 2026 notice says "Applications with blurred photograph and/or blurred/miniature signature will be rejected" (para 14.11), and wants the live photo "clear, without cap or spectacles, and with a full frontal view" (para 9.5). The NEET UG 2026 bulletin from NTA says applications "with unclear photographs are liable to be rejected" (page 17), and asks for "80% face (without mask) visible including ears against white background" (page 16).
SSC adds one exception: applications sent through Aadhaar-based authentication are not rejected on these photo grounds (paras 9.3 and 9.5).
Why it happens
- The photo is blurred: the phone moved, the camera didn't focus, or the file was enlarged from a small picture.
- The light is poor: a dark room, a window behind you, or one side of the face in shadow.
- The face is too small: a full-length or half-body photo where the face is a small patch in the middle.
- Something covers the face: a mask, a cap, a scarf over the ears, sunglasses, or hair across the eyes.
- It is a photo of a photo. SSC rejects a live capture taken of an existing photograph (para 9.5), and NTA does not accept Polaroid or computer-generated photos (NEET UG 2026, page 17).
- The file was squeezed too hard. A big photo pushed down to 20 KB can turn blocky, and the face loses detail.
What the notices ask for
| Rule | SSC (live photo) | NTA (NEET UG, NIFTEE) |
|---|---|---|
| How much face | Face "fully inside" the area the camera marks, "neither too close nor too far" (9.4) | "80% face (without mask) visible including ears" (NEET UG); "80% face (including ears, without a mask)" (NIFTEE 2027) |
| Light and background | "good light and plain background" (9.4) | Uploaded photo: white background. Live photo: "light-colored background with proper lighting" |
| Glasses | No "glasses/spectacles" (9.4) | NEET UG: "Spectacles are allowed only if being used regularly." |
| Cap and mask | No cap or mask (9.4) | Without a mask |
| Pose | Camera "at eye level", directly in front, "look straight ahead" (9.4); "full frontal view" (9.5) | No pose rule beyond the face share |
| What is refused | "blurred photograph" (14.11); a capture of a "pre-existing photograph" (9.5) | "unclear photographs"; "Polaroid and Computer-generated photos are not acceptable" (NEET UG) |
Sources:
- SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 notice (dated 21 May 2026, paras 9.4 and 9.5 (page 18), para 14.11; checked 5 November 2026)
- NTA Information Bulletin NEET (UG) 2026 (dated 8 February 2026, printed pages 16 and 17; checked 5 November 2026)
- NTA Information Bulletin NIFT Entrance Exam 2027 (dated 16 October 2026, printed page 8; checked 5 November 2026)
Exams in our data with a face rule or a live photo
Notice asks for about 80% face
- AISSEE · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- CSIR NET · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- CUET UG · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- JEE Advanced · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- JEE Main · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- NEET UG · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- NIFT · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- RIMCEE · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- RMS CET · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- SWAYAM · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
- UGC NET · 200 × 230 px, 10 to 200 KB
Notice asks for about 75% face
Photo taken live in the form
- BPSC TRE 4.0 · photo taken live in the form
- Delhi Police Constable · photo taken live in the form
- JKSSB Class-IV (MTS) · photo taken live in the form
- RRB ALP · photo taken live in the form
- RRB Group D · photo taken live in the form
- RRB JE · photo taken live in the form
- RRB NTPC · photo taken live in the form
- RRB Paramedical · photo taken live in the form
- RRB Section Controller · photo taken live in the form
- RRB Station Master · photo taken live in the form
- RRB Technician · photo taken live in the form
- SSC CGL · photo taken live in the form
- SSC CHSL · photo taken live in the form
- SSC CPO · photo taken live in the form
- SSC GD Constable · photo taken live in the form
- SSC JE · photo taken live in the form
- SSC JHT · photo taken live in the form
- SSC MTS · photo taken live in the form
- SSC Selection Post · photo taken live in the form
- SSC Stenographer · photo taken live in the form
- UP Police Constable · photo taken live in the form
From each exam's latest notification in our data. Each exam page shows its source and the date we checked it.
Tips
- Glasses rules differ. SSC says no spectacles in the live photo; NEET UG allows them only if you wear them every day. Follow your own exam's notice.
- Face a window or a lamp, so the light falls on your face and not behind you.
- Hold the phone at eye level, at arm's length, and tap your face on the screen so the camera focuses on it.
- Take the picture again rather than sharpening it in an app. Filters and beauty modes change your face, and the notices ask for a face that matches you.
- Crop before you shrink. If the face fills the frame first, the small file keeps more detail around the eyes and ears.
- Don't send the finished photo to yourself on WhatsApp. It compresses the image again, and the face loses detail.
Other upload errors
Rejected for something other than size? See photo rejected and signature rejected. Only need the file smaller? Use compress to KB.
Frequently asked questions
- Why was my photo rejected when the size was right?
- The size is only one check. SSC rejects blurred photos and NTA rejects unclear ones even when the KB and pixels are correct, because the photo is used to identify you at the exam centre.
- Can I wear glasses in the exam form photo?
- It depends on the exam. SSC asks for no glasses or spectacles in the live photo. NEET UG allows spectacles only if you wear them regularly. Check your exam's notice; the exam page here quotes it.
- What does 80% face mean in NTA forms?
- NTA wants your face, including both ears and without a mask, to take up about 80% of the photo. A photo taken from too far away, with the face small in the middle, falls short of it. For NTA exams, pull the crop box in until the face fills it.