DV photo guide
Compress a DV photo under 240 KB
Updated . By the DV Lottery Guide editorial team.
DV Lottery Guide is an independent site and is not affiliated with the U.S. government.
A DV photo file must be a JPEG of 240 KB or less and still be 600×600 pixels. Compress the JPEG quality. Do not change the pixel dimensions to make the file smaller.
Why do phone photos fail this?
A phone JPEG is often several megabytes and much larger than 600×600. The entry upload rejects a file over 240 KB even when the face looks fine.
How do you compress it?
- Crop and scale to exactly 600×600 first. See the size page.
- Export as JPEG. Lower the quality setting until the file is 240 KB or smaller and the face is still sharp.
- Open the file properties and read kilobytes, not megabytes. 0.3 MB is about 300 KB and is too big.
- If the background also needs a fix, use the DV Photo Maker. It checks both the pixel size and the 240 KB limit.
| File | Result |
|---|---|
| 600×600 JPEG, 180 KB | Within the file-size rule |
| 600×600 JPEG, 240 KB | Within the file-size rule |
| 600×600 JPEG, 400 KB | Too large |
| 800×800 JPEG, 200 KB | Under 240 KB, but the wrong pixel size |
Questions
Is the limit 240 KB or 240 KB exactly?
The instructions say equal to or less than 240 KB. A file of 240 KB is within the limit. A larger file is not.
Will shrinking the pixels under 600×600 help?
No. The image still has to be 600×600. Reduce JPEG compression, not the pixel dimensions.
Can the photo service do this?
Yes. The DV Photo Maker checks the file against the 240 KB maximum as part of making the 600×600 JPEG.
Sources
Photo rules on this page follow the DV-2026 instructions. Separate DV-2027 photo instructions have not been published. Entry is only at dvprogram.state.gov.