Compress a PDF to the exact size an upload form asks for
“Upload PDF, maximum size 100 KB.” If you have applied for an exam, a government job, a scholarship, a university seat or a visa appointment in India, you have met this message — usually right after your scanned certificate turned out to be 2 MB. The Compress PDF to a Target Size tool solves exactly that problem: you choose the limit, and it finds the settings that land your PDF just under it.
Unlike a compressor with fixed levels, this tool searches. It first shrinks the file without touching quality, and only if that is not enough turns pages into JPEG images, testing resolution and quality until the result is as sharp as the limit allows. You see the achieved size, the settings used and a preview before downloading.
Everything runs inside your browser. Marksheets, caste and income certificates, passports and bank statements never leave your device — there is no upload, no account and no watermark.
How to compress a PDF to a specific size
- Drop your PDF onto the upload area or click to choose it. The page count and current size appear at the top.
- Choose a target: 20 KB, 50 KB, 100 KB, 200 KB, 300 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, or “Custom” to type any size in KB or MB.
- Tick “Grayscale” for black-and-white documents such as certificates — it saves space.
- Press “Compress to …” and follow the progress as the tool tests different settings.
- Check the size, the settings and the preview, then press “Download PDF”.
Compress PDF to a Target Size features
Lands just under your limit
Instead of guessing, the tool measures the real saved file on every attempt and keeps the highest quality that is still at or below the target.
Lossless first
Unused objects, uncompressed streams, hidden metadata and page thumbnails are removed before anything else. If that is enough, your text stays selectable and nothing is degraded.
Smart resolution and quality search
If pages must become images, it steps down from 200 DPI and binary-searches the JPEG quality at each step.
Honest when a target is impossible
When a limit cannot be reached with readable text, it says so, offers the smallest readable file and lets you go smaller anyway.
Safe for both ways of counting KB
A 100 KB target means at most 100,000 bytes, which is also below 100 KB when a portal counts 1,024 bytes per KB.
How the tool reaches your target size
- Already small enough? If your PDF is already at or below the target, it is left exactly as it is.
- Lossless optimisation. Leftover objects from earlier edits are dropped, uncompressed content is Flate-compressed, objects are packed into object streams and, if allowed, metadata and thumbnails are removed. Digital PDFs often fit at this stage.
- Resolution ladder. Otherwise each page is rendered at 200, 150, 120, 100, 85 or 72 DPI — starting from an estimate based on sample pages — and saved as a JPEG. The highest resolution that fits at 50% quality or better is chosen.
- Quality binary search. At that resolution the tool tests qualities between 50% and 92%, halving the gap each time, and keeps the best one that fits.
- Readable floor. If nothing fits, it tries 72 and 60 DPI with quality down to 25%. Below that, ordinary 10–12 pt text starts to blur, so the tool stops and explains.
How much space each page gets
A size limit is shared by all pages, so the number of pages matters as much as the limit itself. Divide the target by the page count to see the budget per page: the bigger the budget, the higher the resolution and quality the tool can keep. Plain black text on white compresses far better than coloured stamps, photos, shadows or phone-camera noise.
| Target | 1 page | 3 pages | 10 pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 KB | 50 KB per page | about 16.6 KB per page | about 5 KB per page |
| 100 KB | 100 KB per page | about 33 KB per page | 10 KB per page |
| 200 KB | 200 KB per page | about 66 KB per page | 20 KB per page |
| 500 KB | 500 KB per page | about 166 KB per page | 50 KB per page |
| 1 MB | 1,000 KB per page | about 333 KB per page | 100 KB per page |
Tips for exam, job, scholarship and visa portals
- Scan rather than photograph. A scan at 150–200 DPI has a clean white background; a phone photo carries shadows and noise that cost bytes.
- Use grayscale for certificates and forms unless the instructions ask for colour. The PDF Grayscale tool can also convert a file while keeping its text.
- Upload only the pages asked for. Remove blank backs and instruction pages with Delete PDF Pages — every page you drop gives the others more room.
- Check for a minimum size. Some forms give a range such as 50–300 KB. This tool aims just under the maximum, so it rarely produces a file that is too small.
- Starting from photos? Combine them with JPG to PDF first. A document that must go in several parts can be divided with Split PDF by Size.
Compress PDF to a Target Size FAQ
How do I compress a PDF to 100 KB?
Add your PDF, choose “100 KB” and press “Compress to 100 KB”. The tool finds the best settings that fit and shows the final size — for example 98.7 KB — before you download.
Why does the result say 97 KB on my computer when the tool says 99.6 KB?
Windows counts 1 KB as 1,024 bytes, while this tool uses 1,000 bytes. A 99,600-byte file is 99.6 KB in decimal and about 97 KB in Windows terms. Both are under 100 KB, which is why the tool aims at 100,000 bytes.
Will the text in my PDF still be selectable?
If the lossless step is enough, yes. If pages have to become images to reach the target, the text can no longer be selected or searched. The report tells you which method was used.
What if my PDF cannot be compressed to the size I need?
The tool tells you the smallest size that still keeps normal text readable and offers that file. You can press “Try smaller anyway” to go down to 32 DPI, switch on grayscale, remove pages, or split the document into parts.
Is it safe to compress certificates and ID documents here?
Yes. The PDF is processed by your own browser and is never uploaded to a server, so no one else receives a copy of your documents.