Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Resizing your photo and signature and merging your Aadhaar front and back into a PDF is free. There is no account, registration or watermark.

No. Cropping, compressing, the DPI edit and the PDF assembly all run inside your browser's own JavaScript engine. Your photo, signature and Aadhaar images are not sent to our servers. You could go offline after the page loads and the tool would still work.

No. It works in a normal mobile or desktop browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Just open the page, upload and download.

No. This is an independent free tool and is not affiliated with NSDL, UTIITSL, the Income Tax Department or any government body. It only prepares your files. You apply for a PAN card on the official portals: NSDL or UTIITSL.

We base them on the published upload requirements, but the portals can change limits without much notice. Always confirm the current numbers on the official portal before submitting. Our full reference is on the Specifications page.

3.5 cm tall by 2.5 cm wide (portrait), about 197×276 pixels, JPEG format, 200 DPI, with a file size between 20 KB and 50 KB. The crop box in this tool is locked to that shape so you can't pick the wrong ratio.

A square photo of 213×213 pixels, JPEG, 300 DPI, under 30 KB. Switch the portal toggle in the tool to UTIITSL and the crop box becomes square automatically.

A recent, front-facing colour photo with a plain white or light background, your face clearly visible and covering roughly 70–80% of the frame. Avoid shadows, filters, sunglasses, caps or other people in the shot. Start from the original photo file, not a screenshot.

Use our Photo Background Remover to replace the background with plain white, then bring the result into the PAN resizer.

DPI is a value stored in the JPEG header, separate from the pixel grid. It tells anything that prints or checks the image what physical size to treat it as. This tool writes the correct DPI for the portal you selected, so you don't have to rely on your camera or editing app.

4.5 cm wide by 2 cm tall (landscape), about 354×157 pixels, JPEG, 200 DPI, with a file size between 10 KB and 50 KB.

400×200 pixels, JPEG, 600 DPI, under 60 KB.

Sign on plain white paper with black or dark blue ink, then photograph it:

• Hold the phone straight above the paper, not at an angle.
• Use soft, even light such as near a window, so no shadow falls across the ink.
• Keep the signature inside the frame with a little white margin.

Yes. Use the Signature Background Remover to strip the paper tone and leave just the ink on white, then resize it here.

The supporting-document upload usually accepts a single file per document type, and Aadhaar has two sides. The tool places both sides together on one page and exports one PDF.

This tool keeps the merged file within 300 KB on both portals, at 200 DPI. Each uploaded image is also expected to be about 300 KB or less.

Yes. There is a "Gap between images" box under the merge preview. Enter the white space in pixels and the preview updates straight away.

Use the Aadhaar Cropper first to trim the card tightly, then upload the cropped sides to the merge section.

A passport, voter ID, driving licence, ration card, a recent bank statement or a utility bill can typically be used. Check the document list on the portal you apply through for what is currently accepted. Aadhaar is built into this page because it is the most common choice.

Not directly. NSDL expects a portrait photo and UTIITSL a square one, and DPI and file-size limits differ. Switch the portal toggle and re-crop from your original photo instead of reusing the exported file.

Both are authorised to process PAN applications and issue the same card. Pick whichever you find easier or are already using. This tool supports both, so you only need to select the right one before cropping.

The Specifications page has a full comparison table covering size, pixels, DPI and KB limits for both portals.

As a rough guide, the e-PAN is often available within a few days to about two weeks and the physical card within roughly 15–20 working days, depending on application volume and courier delivery. Keep your 15-digit acknowledgement number to track status.

The usual causes are issues you can't see by eye:

• Cropped for the wrong portal (portrait vs square).
• Started from a screenshot, which loses DPI metadata.
• Compressed several times by WhatsApp or other apps first.
• A file renamed to .jpg without actually converting it from HEIC or PNG.
• A shadowed or non-white background.

Start again from the original photo and re-export.

Usually not. Very plain images, such as flat lighting with little texture, compress further than expected, and the tool shows a warning chip. If the portal does reject the file as too small, retake the photo with a little more natural detail or better light.

Yes. Once a crop is applied, the filename box becomes editable. Type any name you like and the Download button will use it. By default the files are called photo.jpeg and signature.jpeg.

Make sure the file is an image such as JPG, PNG or HEIC and not a PDF. Very large camera photos can take a few seconds to load on older phones. If it still doesn't respond, refresh the page and try again, or switch to a recent version of Chrome or Edge.

Check your browser's Downloads list or your phone's Files or Gallery app. If your browser asks for permission to download, allow it. Some in-app browsers (inside social apps) block downloads, so open the page in Chrome or Safari instead.