The blog
Practical guides on file formats, sizes, and getting your concours application accepted the first time — no jargon, just what actually works.
Best Photo Size for a CV or Resume
400-600px square, under 1MB, roughly 35×45mm if printed — and a note on whether you should include one at all, since the answer depends on where you're applying.
How to Compress Multiple Images at Once
Compressing photos one at a time gets tedious fast when you have a dozen — here's how to batch the whole set to the same target size in one go.
How to Fix a 'File Too Large' Upload Error
The error rarely tells you the actual limit or your file's actual size — here's how to find both, and the fastest way to get under whatever the number turns out to be.
How to Reduce an Image's File Size Without Losing Quality
The real levers that shrink an image — compression quality, pixel dimensions, and format — and how to use each without the photo looking obviously worse.
Compress vs. Resize: What's the Difference?
Both make a file smaller, but they change different things — and using the wrong one is the most common reason people don't hit the size they need.
Facebook Profile Picture: Size and Crop Guide
Facebook displays your profile picture as a circle too — the safe upload size, and the same margin rule that applies to Instagram.
Instagram Profile Picture: Size and Crop Guide
Instagram uploads square but displays circular — here's the exact size to use and how much margin to leave so nothing important gets cut off.
Canada Visa Photo Requirements
35×45mm, at least 420×540px for a digital upload, and a 60-240KB file size range — the exact IRCC specs, and the range that trips people up.
Moroccan Passport Photo Requirements
35×45mm, white/blue/light-grey background, and a head that fills 70-80% of the frame — the exact official specs from passeport.ma, explained plainly.
PDF or Image: Which Should You Upload?
When a form doesn't specify a format and just says 'upload your document,' here's how to decide between a PDF and an image — and how to convert either way in seconds.
How Many Times Can You Compress a JPEG Before It Looks Bad?
Every JPEG re-save loses a little quality — but the effect is smaller than most people assume, and there's a specific way to avoid it stacking up.
How to Crop a Photo to a Perfect Square
Profile pictures, avatars, and LinkedIn photos almost always want a 1:1 square — here's how to crop to exactly that without stretching or distorting the image.
How to Turn a Single Photo or Scan into a PDF
When a form wants a PDF and all you have is one photo — a signed form, a receipt, a single-page document — here's the quickest way to get there.
What Is AVIF, and Why You May Need to Convert It
AVIF is an even newer, more efficient image format than WebP — and even less supported by upload forms. Here's what it is and the quick way to convert it.
Why WebP Images Won't Upload (And How to Fix It)
WebP is a modern, efficient image format your browser handles fine — but plenty of older upload forms and portals silently reject it. Here's the quick fix.
CIN Recto/Verso PDF for Official Submissions
Most portals asking for your CIN want both sides combined into one PDF, not two separate image files — here's the fast way to get that right.
UK Visa Photo Requirements
UK visa photos follow a similar biometric standard to the Schengen area, but with a few specifics of their own — here's what actually differs.
US Visa DS-160 Photo Requirements
The DS-160 photo has stricter, more specific rules than most ID photos — square dimensions, a pure white background, and a size range, not just a maximum.
Schengen Visa: Photo and Dossier Requirements
What the Schengen visa application actually wants for your photo and your supporting-documents PDF, and the two size limits that trip people up most.
How to Compress Images for a Faster Website
Large images are the single biggest cause of slow-loading web pages. What actually moves the needle for page speed, and what's a waste of time.
WhatsApp Profile Picture: Size and Format Guide
WhatsApp's actual profile picture requirements, why your photo sometimes looks blurry or cropped oddly after uploading, and how to fix both.
How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality
Resizing down is easy and safe. Resizing up is where quality actually gets lost — here's the real difference, and how to resize correctly for a specific requirement.
Best Free Way to Merge Images into One PDF
Combining several photos — a multi-page document shot page by page — into one properly ordered PDF, without installing anything.
How to Convert PDF Pages to JPG Images
When a form wants an image instead of a PDF, or you need to preview/edit a specific page as a picture — converting PDF pages to JPG, and what to watch for in the result.
LinkedIn Profile Photo: Size and Quality Guide
LinkedIn's actual photo size limits, what makes a profile photo look professional versus amateur, and how to get there without a professional photographer.
CNSS Declaration File Guide
What Morocco's CNSS (social security) portal typically expects from uploaded declaration documents, and the formatting details that most often cause a submission to bounce.
TCF/DELF Registration File Requirements
What the TCF and DELF French-proficiency exam registration portals typically expect from your uploaded documents, and how to avoid a rejected registration.
Common App Document Upload Requirements
What Common App actually expects from a document upload — format, size, and the mistakes that cause a supporting document to bounce.
How to Straighten and Crop a Phone Photo of a Document
A document photographed at a slight angle, with background around the edges, looks unprofessional and sometimes gets rejected outright. Here's how to fix both problems properly.
How to Merge Multiple PDFs into One File
Combining several PDFs — or a mix of PDFs and photos — into a single document, in the right order, without losing quality.
How to Split a PDF into Separate Pages
Pulling individual pages out of a multi-page PDF, or breaking one large file into several smaller ones — the two different things people mean by 'split a PDF' and how to do each.
How to Remove a Photo Background for Free
Removing a background used to mean Photoshop and a steady hand with the lasso tool. Here's what actually changed, and how to do it in one click.
JPG vs PNG vs WebP vs AVIF: Which Format Should You Use?
A plain-language comparison of the four most common image formats — what each is actually good at, and when picking the wrong one costs you file size or quality.
Passport & Visa Photo Size Requirements by Country
US, UK, and Schengen passport/visa photo dimensions and file-size limits compared, so you know what you actually need before you submit one.
Uploading Your Dossier to emploi-public.ma: A PDF Upload Guide
Common reasons a dossier gets stuck or rejected on Morocco's public-sector recruitment portal, and how to fix each one before you submit.
How to Reduce PDF File Size Without Losing Quality
The real ways to shrink a PDF — image downsampling, font/font-subset handling, and re-compression — explained plainly, with the tradeoffs each one actually makes.
Free Image Compressors Compared: TinyPNG, Squoosh, and FileNorm
TinyPNG, Squoosh, and FileNorm all compress images for free in different ways. Here's the actual difference, honestly, so you can pick the right one for what you're doing.
How to Compress a File for an Email Attachment Limit
Most email providers cap attachments at 20-25MB, and the bounce-back error rarely tells you the file was too big. Here's how to get under the limit without losing quality.
US Passport Photo: Size, Requirements, and How to Get It Right
The US State Department's passport photo rules are specific about size, background, and expression. Here's what they actually require and how to meet them without a photo studio.
Best Free CamScanner Alternative (No Watermark, No Subscription)
CamScanner puts a watermark on your scans and paywalls basic features behind a subscription. Here's a free alternative that does the same job, entirely in your browser.
How to Scan a Document With Your Phone (No App Needed)
Turn a crooked phone photo of a paper document into a clean, straightened PDF — right in your browser, no CamScanner install, no watermark.
Will Your File Be Accepted? Check Before You Submit
A validator, not a converter: drop a file you already have, pick the portal, and know in seconds if it will actually pass — before you find out the hard way.
Prepare Your Full Concours Dossier in One Go
Instead of juggling five different tools for five different documents, walk through your entire dossier in one guided session and download a single ZIP.
Official ID Photo at Home, Without a Studio
You don't need a photo studio for a compliant ID photo — a plain wall, decent light, and the right crop get you most of the way there.
How to Get a Transparent Signature for Online Forms
A scanned signature with a white or gray background looks unprofessional and can be flagged by strict portals. Here's how to get a clean transparent PNG.
How to Merge Your CIN Front and Back Into One PDF
Many portals want your national ID card as a single PDF with both sides, not two separate photos. Here's the fast way to do it.
Campus France Dossier: The File Format and Size You Actually Need
Campus France applications bundle multiple documents into one submission. Here's how to keep the whole dossier under the portal's limit without losing quality.
DGSN Applications: Photo and Document Requirements Explained
What the DGSN recruitment portal typically expects from your ID photo and supporting documents, and how to prepare them without guesswork.
Cursus Sup: The Most Common File Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Cursus Sup rejects a lot of dossiers for file reasons that have nothing to do with your actual application. Here's what to check before you submit.
What Is DPI, and Why It Matters Less Than You Think
Scanning at the highest DPI setting feels safe, but it's usually the reason your file is too big. Here's what DPI actually controls.
The Morocco Concours File Checklist: What Every Portal Actually Asks For
A practical checklist of the documents and formats Moroccan concours portals commonly require, so you can prepare everything before the deadline crunch.
PNG vs JPG for Scanned Documents: Which One Should You Use?
PNG and JPG solve different problems. Using the wrong one for a scanned document is the #1 reason your file is way bigger than it should be.
HEIC vs JPG: Why Your iPhone Photos Won't Upload to Moroccan Portals
iPhones save photos as HEIC by default — and a lot of government and concours portals silently reject that format. Here's the fix.
How to Compress a Photo to Exactly 100 KB for Concours Applications
100 KB is one of the most common photo-size limits on Moroccan concours portals. Here's how to hit it without your ID photo looking blurry.
Why Your PDF Got Rejected (And How to Fix It in 2 Minutes)
The most common reasons a concours portal rejects your PDF — and the fastest way to fix each one, without losing readability.