How To Resize Photo using Paint.NET Free Photo Editor (Government Website Requirements 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm)

In this post, we will discuss about using Paint.NET for resizing photo to 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm and other specifications required by most Indian Government exam websites . In my previous post "Tools for editing photos for government exams online application in India", I wrote about a few photo editing tools that can be used to edit and resize photos for the purpose of uploading to Indian Government exam application websites where they usually ask photos in specific dimensions and size. And to my surprise, it is one among the most visited articles on this blog. In the post I shared some basic and common photo editors that may be used for editing photo for government purposes.

The dimension and size requirement on government websites depends from department to department, but generally it looks like:
    Upload Scanned Images of Photograph and Signature:
    Size of the photo image must be greater than 4 kb and less than 40 kb.
    Dimension of photograph image should be 3.5 cm(width) x 4.5 cm(Height) only.
    Dimension of photograph image should be 110px (width) adn 140px (height) only.

For uploading to government website, we don't need advanced editing, but we only need to crop, scale, adjust some basic brightness and contrast. Besides, the other tools shared in the previous post -

"Tools for editing photos for government exams online application in India", Paint.NET can also be a useful tool for some who need a photo editor that is free and has sufficient features.

Using Paint.NET for resizing photo to 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm and other specification required by most Indian Government exam websites

Paint.NET is an image and photo editing software for PCs that run Windows and based on the .NET Framework. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. Paint.NET depends on Microsoft's .NET Framework 4.6, which is automatically installed if it isn't already on the system.

Paint.NET is definitely more advanced than Paint and certainly with more features. Now, regarding the topic, Paint.NET is also recommended for editing photos for uploading to government exams application forms online. Paint.NET has a simple interface for that purpose. First Download and Install Paint.NET if not already installed. Download link given further below.

Open Paint.NET
Drag and drop your photo in the Paint.NET work space.
When asked whether to open the image or add as a layer, select "Open"
If the orientation of the photo being edited is landscape, crop the photo to select only the required portion of the photo in the passport photo. After cropping, you should have a photo in portrait orientation. So the aspect ratio is somewhat close. We now have to adjust the dimensions to fit the size requirements.

Click on Image > Resize.

Using Image Resize, you can use absolute size and disable maintain aspect ratio and start editing your image as desired. If the aspect ratio of the image you have cropped is exact, then you may also use "maintain aspect ratio".

Using Paint.NET Image Resize control, you can edit your photo by adjusting the

Pixel Size: specifies the size in pixels
Resolution: how many pixels per inch or per cm
and Print size: dimension in cm or inch

and see that the file size is within the requirements.

paint net edit resize photo government website

In the screenshot above, the adjustment have been made to fit requirement of 3.5x4.5 cm and file size below 40Kb. In some cases, dimension may also be mentioned in terms of pixels such as 110px x 140px.

If you are someone who is looking for light weight photo editing tool instead of heavy photo editing programs with tons of features which you may probably never use, then Paint.NET is worth checking out.
Download Paint.NET