Drop your file here
or choose a file · PDF, JPG, PNG, WebP, TIFF or BMP
- Deleted automatically
- Free, no watermark
- Quality kept where possible
Getting a DS-160 photo to 600 x 600 and under 240 KB
The State Department sets four technical rules for the digital photo: JPEG format, 240 KB or less, a square shape, and 600 x 600 pixels. A file that misses any of them cannot be uploaded.
This page is set up for all four. Your photo is cropped to a square from the middle, scaled to exactly 600 x 600 pixels and saved as a JPEG at the highest quality that stays under 240 KB. At that size a photo usually fits with room to spare, so very little quality is lost.
Tips
- Crop the photo square yourself before uploading if your head is not in the middle of the frame. The crop here takes the centre.
- The picture itself has rules too, such as the background, your expression and glasses. Check them on the State Department page before you take it.
- If the upload still complains, check that it is a JPEG. A PNG or HEIC from a phone is converted here, but a renamed file is not.
Requirements from the U.S. Department of State's photo requirements, checked 26 September 2026. Forms change their rules, so check the form itself if something is rejected.
How it works
- 1
Drop your file
A PDF or an image. It goes over an encrypted connection and nowhere else.
- 2
Pick your limit
Choose the size the form asks for. We start with a cleanup that changes nothing you can see.
- 3
Download it
If it needs more, we find the gentlest quality setting that still fits, and delete everything soon after.
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark.
What happens to my file?
It is processed on our server and deleted automatically: the original 5 minutes after the run finishes, the compressed file after 10. A file you upload but never compress is deleted within 30 minutes. You can also delete everything right away with Delete now.
Will it look worse?
We try a lossless cleanup first, which does not change how the file looks. Only if that is not enough do we lower image quality, and we pick the gentlest setting that still fits your size.
What if my file cannot get that small?
You get the smallest version we could make and a clear note saying so, instead of a file that silently misses the limit.
Why does the size page aim a little under its limit?
Some sites count a kilobyte as 1000 bytes and others as 1024. We aim under the stricter one, so a 200 KB page aims for 200,000 bytes and the file passes either way.