IBPS and SBI: thumb impression and handwritten declaration

By Aman, founder of FABX Labs · Updated 17 September 2026 · 4 min read

Bank-exam forms need four files with strict pixel checks, and two of them, the left thumb impression and the handwritten declaration, trip up most applicants. How to make both at home so they pass first time.

IBPS forms (PO, Clerk, RRB and SO) and SBI's PO and Clerk forms use the same set of four files. The photo and signature are familiar. The other two are where most people get stuck: a left thumb impression and a handwritten declaration.

All four files are checked the moment you upload them. If a file is the wrong width or height, the form shows an error and will not move forward.

The four files at a glance

These are the values bank-exam notifications have used for several cycles. Check your notification in case anything has changed.

A few notices have allowed the thumb impression up to 100 KB. SBI uses the same four sizes as IBPS, so make the files once and use them for both.

If the size is wrong, the error message names the exact size, for example "Signature dimensions should be 140 x 60 pixels". That is the portal checking pixels, not how the file looks.

The left thumb impression

The portal wants a clear print of the ridges of your left thumb, not a dark blob.

1. Use a stamp pad with blue or black ink. Press your left thumb on it once, lightly and evenly.
2. Press the thumb once on plain white paper. Don't roll it or press twice; that smudges the ridges.
3. Let the ink dry for a minute.
4. Photograph it in daylight, holding the phone flat above the paper so there is no shadow.
5. Open the thumb tab in the tool. The clean option makes the paper white and the ridges dark, then crops to 240 × 240 and brings the file into the KB range.

A grey, shadowy photo of a thumb print is the most common reason this file is sent back. Daylight and a flat phone solve most of it.

The handwritten declaration

This is a short paragraph you write by hand in English, photograph and upload. The wording used in recent IBPS and SBI forms is:

Copy the wording from your own notification or the application form, because that is the version that counts.

The rules that come with it:

• It must be your own handwriting. A typed declaration, or one written by someone else, is not accepted.
• Write in English, in normal running letters. Don't write it in CAPITAL letters.
• Use black ink on plain white paper, and leave space around the text.
• Write your name where the blank is, the same way it appears in your application.

Then photograph it flat in daylight, open the declaration tab, and the tool cleans the page, fits it to 800 × 400 and brings the file into 50–100 KB.

The tool shows the wording so you can copy it by hand. It never writes the declaration for you, and it never creates handwriting, a signature or a thumb impression. It only cleans and resizes what you made yourself.

Photo and signature, briefly

• Photo: recent, colour, plain light background, 200 × 230 pixels, 20–50 KB.
• Signature: black ink on white paper, your normal running-hand signature, 140 × 60 pixels, 10–20 KB. Bank notifications say a signature in capital letters will not be accepted.

A clean signature often compresses below 10 KB, which the portal also rejects. The tool adds size to the file in that case without changing the image.

Before you upload, check all four

Run each file through the checker and choose IBPS or SBI. It compares pixels, size and format with the rules and flags a grey background on the thumb, signature or declaration.

Checklist

1. Thumb: left thumb, stamp pad, one clean press, white paper, 240 × 240, 20–50 KB.
2. Declaration: your handwriting, English, not in capitals, the notification's wording, 800 × 400, 50–100 KB.
3. Signature: black ink, running hand, 140 × 60, 10–20 KB.
4. Photo: colour, recent, 200 × 230, 20–50 KB.
5. Keep all four files together. The same set works for other IBPS and SBI forms this year.

Tools used in this guide

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