How to scan your signature with a phone

Before you sign

• Pen: a black ball pen or gel pen. Blue is accepted by SSC, CAT and GATE but not by UPSC; black is accepted everywhere.
• Paper: plain white, unruled. Ruled or coloured paper is rejected by several exams.
• Style: your normal running signature. Most forms reject signatures written only in capital letters.
• UPSC only: sign three times, one below the other, on the same sheet.

Taking the photo

1. Put the paper on a flat table near a window.
2. Hold the phone straight above the paper, parallel to it, so the signature isn't slanted.
3. Move until your hand's shadow is off the paper.
4. Fill most of the screen with the signature area and take the shot.

Cleaning it up

A phone photo of white paper is never white: it's grey or yellow, darker at the corners. Upload it as-is and the portal or the printout shows a dirty grey box. In ExamPic choose your exam, then Signature. The tool turns the paper pure white and the ink dark, crops close with a small margin, and checks that nothing touches the edge. The "Whiten paper" slider handles very grey photos.