POLYCET Photo and Signature Resizer, Compressor and Converter

What the Tamil Nadu Polytechnic Common Entrance Test is

POLYCET is the entrance test for diploma programmes run by the Directorate of Technical Education in Tamil Nadu. The directorate administers the government polytechnic colleges across the state, and POLYCET is the route into first year diploma courses in those institutions, as distinct from the engineering admissions that run through the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions process.

Applications for the academic year open through the Directorate of Technical Education and follow the usual single application pattern for the state. The specification here is the standard physical frame quoted twice, once at 96 DPI and once at 200 DPI, with a 500 KB ceiling on both the photograph and the signature. Nothing in this record is unusual, which makes the resolution the only thing to choose between.

The official POLYCET site is dte.tn.gov.in. Take the photograph and signature numbers from the notice published there rather than from a third-party summary, since that document is the one the portal was built against.

This page sets out the numbers POLYCET actually asks for. It is not a general guide to cropping or to the tool interface, because those instructions do not change from one exam to the next and they are written up separately.

What the POLYCET form asks you to upload

Two images are required, and a failure in either one holds up the application. They are:

• A photograph at 3.5 x 4.5 cm, no heavier than 500 KB and no lighter than 50 KB.
• A signature at 3.5 x 1.5 cm, no heavier than 500 KB and no lighter than 50 KB.

The POLYCET numbers, and why they matter

POLYCET is specified in centimetres rather than pixels, so the sizes in the table are physical measurements and the notification pairs them with 96 DPI resolution. The tool converts through that DPI value instead of scaling the image to an arbitrary pixel count, which is why the output is correct at print size and not just at screen size.

Resolution appears more than once in the POLYCET record, at 200 and 96 DPI. That is not a contradiction: the physical frame is the same in both, and the choice is how densely the image is stored. Where an advertisement is silent, the 200 DPI row is the safer one, because a denser image still measures correctly at a lower resolution while the reverse is not true.

Worth knowing that POLYCET works in both directions. The photograph must be no larger than 500 KB and no smaller than 50 KB, and the signature no larger than 500 KB with 50 KB as its floor. Overshooting the ceiling is the usual mistake; undershooting the floor is the one that surprises people who compress hard.

If the POLYCET application refuses your file

• A POLYCET rejection usually comes down to one of two things. Either the file is over 500 KB because the crop left too much empty background, or the photo itself has a non plain background, a tilt, or a filter. Fix the weight first since it is measurable, then the photograph.
• The signature is judged on its own 3.5 x 1.5 cm box and is not rescued by a correct photograph. If it is rejected, the usual cause is loose cropping: a signature scanned with a wide white margin carries more weight than the 500 KB allowance and fails even though the writing itself looks right.
• When two identical files are both refused, the file is usually not the variable. Re-check the notification against the table above, since a corrigendum between your two attempts is the usual explanation.

Images from the original page

Frequently Asked Questions

A dedicated guide covers the crop frame, the face mask, and the compression range, none of which change with the exam you are applying to. Read the complete photo and signature guide.