Quick start: your first form photo in 5 steps
- Open Nova Forms. Go to
novaclip.tech/forms.html, or tap Free Tools and then Nova Forms. Photo resizer is already chosen.
- Choose your photo. Tap Choose a photo, or Take a photo with your camera.
- Place your face. Drag the photo, and pinch (or use the Zoom slider), until your face fills the frame the way your form wants.
- Pick the size. Tap a Quick setting such as IBPS / SBI photo, or choose the pixels and the KB limit yourself.
- Make and save. Tap Make my photo, look at its size in KB, tap Save file, and upload it on your form.
Before you start
Online forms are strict about files: a photo must be exactly this many pixels and under that many KB, a signature smaller still, and your papers must be one PDF under 200 KB. Nova Forms makes these files for you, on your phone or computer.
FreeNo account, no watermark, no limit on how many files you make.
On your devicePhotos and PDFs are opened and made in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
BrowsersChrome, Edge and Safari. iPhone HEIC photos open in Safari; in other browsers take a new photo with the camera button, or save it as a JPG first.
LimitsPDF tools open up to 25 pages, from PDFs up to 100 MB.
⚠️ Always read the size on your own form or notice. Exams and forms change their sizes from time to time. The quick settings in Nova Forms are the sizes we found in official notices, and you can always type your own numbers.
The screens
Every tool works the same way, in five screens:
- Start. The name of the tool, a big button to choose a file, a Take a photo button where it makes sense, and a place to drop a file on a computer.
- Opening. A progress bar while your file is read. A PDF with a password shows a password form here.
- Settings. Your photo or your list of pages, and the settings. At the bottom, a bar says in words what will be made (for example Saves 200 × 230 px · under 50 KB) with the big button to make it.
- Working. A spinner and a progress bar. Keep the page open.
- Finished. Your result, its size, and the buttons to save or share it. See The finished screen.
Photo resizer
Makes a photo of the exact pixels and KB your form asks for, with your face in the right place.
- Tap Choose a photo (or Take a photo). On a computer you can also drop a file on the page. JPG, PNG, WebP and most phone photos work.
- Put your face in the frame. Drag the photo to move it. Pinch with two fingers, turn the mouse wheel, or use the Zoom slider to make it bigger or smaller. The two round arrows turn the photo left or right. Show whole photo fits the whole picture inside the frame instead of filling it.
- Choose the size: tap a Quick setting, or pick one under Size in pixels. Same shape as my photo keeps your photo's own shape. Other size… lets you type the Width and Height in
px, cm, mm or inch. For cm, mm and inch also choose the Dots per inch (200 or 300 is usual); Nova Forms shows the pixels it comes to.
- Choose the file size under File size: Any size, Under 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 or 500 KB, or type your numbers in Under and At least. Some forms want both, for example 20 to 50 KB.
- Does your form want your name and the date written under the photo? Open More options: name and date, switch on Add my name and the date under the photo, and type your Name and the Date (DD/MM/YYYY).
- Tap Make my photo.
Nova Forms makes the best-looking picture that fits under your limit. If your form also wants a minimum size (At least), a little invisible padding is added so the file reaches it; the picture itself is the same.
💡 Nova Forms aims a little under your limit on purpose. Some websites count 1 KB as 1000 bytes and some as 1024, and a file a little under the limit is accepted by both.
⚠️ If the limit cannot be reached at that size, you are told: We could not get it under 50 KB at this size. The smallest we can make is …. Choose a smaller size in pixels, or a bigger KB limit.
Signature resizer
Turns a photo of your signature into a clean signature of the exact size and KB your form wants. Sign with a dark pen on plain white paper, in good light, and take a photo of it.
Step 1: choose the part to keep
- Tap Choose a photo of your signature.
- Drag the corners (or the sides) of the box so that only your signature is inside it. Use the round arrows if the photo is on its side. Just the paper picks the paper for you, and Whole photo selects everything.
- Tap Next.
Step 2: make it clean, then choose the size
- Look at the preview. Move Make it darker or lighter until the lines are clear but not too thick.
- Under Lines choose Normal, Thicker or Thickest. Cut away the empty paper around it is on to start with, so the signature fills the file.
- Tap a Quick setting (for example IBPS / SBI signature), or choose Size in pixels and File size yourself. Keep its own shape does not change the shape.
- Tap Make my signature. To change the box, tap ← Change the crop.
💡 Sign bigger than you need and with a blue or black pen. A thin pen on grey paper is the hardest to make clean.
Pixels, KB and the quick settings
Pixels are the width and height of a picture (200 × 230 means 200 dots wide and 230 high). KB is how big the file is. They are different: a picture of the same pixels can be 20 KB or 200 KB. A form often asks for both.
If your form gives a size in cm (for example 3.5 × 4.5 cm), choose Other size…, pick cm and a Dots per inch of 300; Nova Forms works out the pixels. The quick settings below do this for you.
| Quick setting | Size | File size |
|---|
| Photo |
| IBPS / SBI photo | 200 × 230 px | 20–50 KB |
| UPSC photo | 600 × 600 px | 20–300 KB |
| NEET / JEE / CUET photo | your photo's own shape | 10–200 KB |
| Photo 3.5 × 4.5 cm | 413 × 531 px | 20–50 KB |
| NEET fingers / thumb | your photo's own shape | 10–200 KB |
| Left thumb | 240 × 240 px | 20–50 KB |
| Handwritten declaration | 800 × 400 px | 50–100 KB |
| Signature |
| IBPS / SBI signature | 140 × 60 px | 10–20 KB |
| SSC signature | 6 × 2 cm (709 × 236 px) | 10–20 KB |
| SSC signature 4 × 2 cm | 472 × 236 px | 10–20 KB |
| RRB signature | 413 × 236 px | 30–49 KB |
| UPSC signature | 400 × 400 px | 20–300 KB |
| NEET / JEE signature | its own shape | 10–100 KB |
| CUET signature | its own shape | 10–50 KB |
⚠️ These are the sizes printed in the notices we checked. Forms change them, so read your own notice, and use Other size… if yours is different.
Image to PDF
Puts photos or scans of your papers (a marksheet, a certificate, an ID) into one PDF, in the order you choose.
- Tap Choose photos and select up to 25 photos at once, or tap Take a photo for each page. Add photos adds more at any time.
- Put the pages in order. Each page has arrows to move it up or down, a Turn button for a page that is on its side, and a Remove (bin) button.
- Page size: A4 paper puts each photo on an A4 page, or Same as the photo makes the page the shape of the photo.
- Look: Photo keeps the pictures as they are. Document makes paper white and writing dark, which helps a photo of a paper taken in poor light.
- File size: Good quality has no limit. Tap Under 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB or 2 MB, or type your own number of KB in Under.
- Tap Make my PDF.
💡 The pictures are made lighter step by step, and only as much as your limit needs, so the pages stay as sharp as they can.
Merge PDF
Joins PDF files and photos into one PDF.
- Tap Choose PDFs or photos and select your files together. Add files adds more.
- Every page of every PDF is listed. Move pages up or down, turn them, or remove the ones you do not need.
- Choose Look and File size as in Image to PDF. Page size for photos is for photos only: the pages of a PDF keep their own size.
- Tap Join into one PDF. The file is called
merged.pdf.
When the result is small enough, the pages of your PDFs are copied as they are, so text stays text and stays sharp. If your KB limit needs it, the pages are made into pictures, only as much as needed.
Compress PDF
Makes a PDF smaller so that it fits the limit of a form.
- Tap Choose a PDF.
- Under 200 KB is already chosen. Tap another limit, or type your own number of KB.
- Take out the pages you do not need, and turn a page that is on its side. Choose the Document look for scans if the writing looks grey.
- Tap Make my PDF smaller. The finished screen shows the new size and the old one (was …).
💡 A PDF that is already small enough, and that you changed nothing in, is kept as it is. Nova Forms tells you so.
There are also pages for the sizes people ask for most: 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB and 1 MB.
PDF to JPG
Turns every page of a PDF into a JPG picture, each one under the KB limit you choose. Useful when a form wants a picture of a certificate and not a PDF.
- Tap Choose a PDF.
- Under Size of each picture choose Good quality or a limit such as Under 100 KB.
- Take out or turn pages if you like. Tap Make my pictures.
One page gives one JPG. More pages give a list: tap Save on a picture, or Save all as a ZIP for all of them. On a phone that can share files, Share sends all the pictures to another app. The pictures are named file-page-1.jpg, file-page-2.jpg and so on. Each picture is as sharp as it can be under your limit, and you see the size of each one.
Split PDF
Cuts a PDF into separate files. Useful when one PDF holds several papers and your form wants each one as its own file.
- Tap Choose a PDF.
- Decide where to cut. Tap Split here between two pages, or tap Every page, Every 2 pages, Every 3 pages or Every 5 pages. The list shows each file, for example File 1 · pages 1–2. Tap a file's button (Tap to join) to join it to the file above. No split puts everything back in one file.
- Under Size of each file choose a limit if your form has one.
- Tap Split my PDF.
The files come as a list, with Save for each file, Save all as a ZIP, and Share. They are named report-pages-1-3.pdf and report-page-4.pdf. The pages are copied as they are when that is small enough, so the writing stays sharp. Taking out a page keeps the other files as they were.
PDFs with a password
Compress PDF, Merge PDF, PDF to JPG and Split PDF can open a PDF that has a password, such as an e-Aadhaar, a bank statement or a salary slip.
- Choose the PDF. Nova Forms shows This PDF needs a password.
- Type the password and tap Open the PDF. Tap Show the password to see what you typed. Skip this PDF leaves that file out.
- If the password is wrong, you are told and can try again.
The password is used once, on your device, to open the PDF. It is not kept or sent anywhere, and the new files you save have no password, so a form can read them.
💡 The password of an e-Aadhaar PDF is the first 4 letters of your name in
CAPITAL letters, followed by your year of birth (YYYY). For SURESH KUMAR born in 1990 it is
SURE1990. See
Compress your Aadhaar PDF.
The finished screen
When your file is ready you see the result and its size. The buttons are:
- Save file (or Save all as a ZIP when there are several files): saves the file on your device.
- Open to look at it (PDFs): opens the PDF in a new tab so you can check it before you upload.
- Share: on a phone that can share files, sends the file to WhatsApp, Gmail, Drive and other apps. It shows only where the browser allows it.
- Change something: goes back to the settings, with everything as you left it.
- Start again: clears everything and goes to the start.
A note under the result tells you anything you should know: for example that your PDF was kept as it is, that the pages were copied as they are, or that a limit could not be reached and what the smallest size is.
Sizes for exams
Each of these pages lists the photo and signature sizes we found in the official notices, and every row has a button that opens Nova Forms already set to that size:
Some exams (for example SSC and RRB) take your photo live with a camera, so there is nothing to upload; the page says so. For your photo and signature on a form that is not listed, use Other size….
⚠️ Exams change sizes from time to time. Always check the notice of your own exam.
Privacy and offline
- Your photos, signatures and PDFs are opened, made and saved on your device. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
- A PDF password is used once, on your device, and is not kept.
- No account and no sign-in. No watermark on your files.
- Nova Forms needs the internet the first time you open it. After that, the photo and signature tools open without a connection. Open a PDF tool once while you are online, and it is saved for later too.
Tips
- Take photos in daylight, with a plain background, and keep the camera straight.
- Pick the KB limit before you press Make, so the file is made once.
- Open the file once before you upload it, and look at it.
- For several papers in one PDF, use Image to PDF for photos, or Merge PDF if you already have PDF files.
- If a PDF is too big, Compress PDF first; if it has too many pages, take out the pages you do not need.
- Keep your original photos and PDFs. Nova Forms never changes them.
Common problems
My photo will not open
JPG, PNG and WebP photos open everywhere. iPhone HEIC photos open in Safari. In another browser, tap Take a photo to take a new one, or save the photo as a JPG first. If you see that a picture is too big for this browser, try a smaller one.
The file is still over my KB limit
For a photo, choose a smaller size in pixels, or a bigger KB limit. For a PDF, try the Document look, take out a page you do not need, or choose a bigger limit. Nova Forms tells you the smallest size it could make.
My PDF asks for a password and I do not know it
A PDF with a password cannot be opened without it. Ask the person or office that sent it. For an e-Aadhaar it is the first 4 letters of your name in capitals and your year of birth, for example SURE1990.
It says the PDF could not be read
The file may be damaged, or it may not be a real PDF. Try another copy. A PDF over 100 MB is too big for the browser; compress it somewhere else first.
My signature looks too light or too thick
Move Make it darker or lighter, and try Thicker under Lines. A dark pen on plain white paper, in good light, gives the best result.
There is no Share button
Share shows only on phones and browsers that can share files. Tap Save file instead, and send the file from your Files or Downloads.
Nothing happens when I tap Save file
Allow the download when your browser asks. On an iPhone, look in Files then Downloads, or tap Share (when it shows) and choose Save to Files.
Why is my file a little under my limit?
On purpose. Some websites count 1 KB as 1000 bytes and some as 1024, so Nova Forms aims a little under the limit and the file is accepted by both.
Still stuck? Send us a message with your browser and what you were trying to do.
Ready for your form?
Open Nova Forms and make your photo, signature or PDF in a minute.