Photo with Name & Date for Exam Forms
Many recruitment and entrance forms now ask for a photograph with your name and the date the photo was taken printed below your face. It helps the exam body confirm the photo is recent and really yours. It's an easy thing to get wrong, though — the wrong date, text covering your chin or a file that's too big can all lead to a rejected form. Here's how to do it properly.
Always follow your exam's notification. Each exam sets its own size, file limit and wording, and they change between years. Use this guide for the general method, and take the exact numbers from the official notice.
Which forms ask for it?
It's most common in staff selection and state recruitment forms, police and defence recruitment, and some university applications. If the notification says "name and date of photograph", "date of taking photo" or shows a sample photo with a white strip at the bottom, you need it. If it doesn't mention it, upload a normal photo.
How it should look
- A plain white or light strip below your face — never written over your face, chin or shoulders.
- Your name as it appears in your application, usually in capital letters.
- The date the photo was taken — not today's date if the photo is older. Most forms want the photo to be recent (often within the last three months), so take a new one if needed.
- Text that's dark, clear and large enough to read once the photo is shrunk to the form size.
- The face still filling most of the frame — the strip takes space from the bottom, not from your face.
Usual sizes
| Common requirement | Typical numbers |
|---|---|
| Printed-photo size | 3.5 × 4.5 cm (passport size) |
| Pixel size (at 300 dpi) | About 413 × 531 px |
| File size | Often 20–50 KB; some forms allow up to 100 or 200 KB |
| Format | JPG / JPEG |
Confused by pixels, KB and dpi? Our guide Pixels, KB and DPI: what form sizes really mean explains them in plain English.
Step by step
- Take a fresh photo against a plain light wall, in daylight, looking straight at the camera, with your ears and both eyes visible.
- Open the Photo with Name & Date tool and choose the photo.
- Type your name and pick the date the photo was taken, then choose the size your exam asks for (or enter your own numbers).
- Drag and zoom so your face is centred with a little space above your head.
- Download the JPG and check the size shown is inside the limit before you upload.
Mistakes that get forms rejected
- An old photo with a new date — dates are checked against the notification window.
- Writing the name or date by hand on a printed photo and scanning it, so it's blurred or tilted.
- Text that covers part of the face, or a strip that takes so much space your face becomes tiny.
- A file too big or too small for the form, or a PNG where JPG is required.
- Caps, dark glasses or a busy background.
Add your name and date neatly below your photo, at the exact size and KB your form needs — free, and your photo never leaves your device.
Open Photo with Name & Date →