How to get a PDF under 200 KB or 1 MB for an upload form

Start with Compress PDF on Small and read the size it reports. If that is still over the form's limit, cut the pages the form does not need, and for a scanned document, rebuild the PDF from smaller page images. Those three steps, in that order, get most files under 200 KB or 1 MB.

Compress PDF has no "exact size" setting. How small a PDF can go depends on what is in it, so the tool shows the real result for each level instead of promising a number.

Steps

1. Open Compress PDF, drop the file in, and choose Small under Compression.
2. Read the new size under the preview, and drag the divider over page one to check that it is still readable.
3. If it is under the limit, press Download PDF and you are done.
4. If not, remove pages the form does not ask for with Extract PDF pages, then compress the shorter file again on Small.
5. If a scanned file is still too big, rebuild it from compressed page images, as described below.

Rebuilding a scanned PDF to hit a target size

This route gives you control over the final size, because each page becomes a JPG you shrink to a set number of KB. Use it for scans and photos of documents. On a PDF with real text, the text becomes part of a picture: it still reads, but it can no longer be selected or searched.

1. Work out a budget per page: the limit divided by the number of pages, minus a little spare. For 200 KB and 3 pages, aim for about 60 KB per page.
2. Open PDF to JPG, choose JPG, and pick Standard (150 DPI) under Resolution. Screen (96 DPI) makes smaller images if the pages have large type. Press Download 3 pages (the button names how many you chose); several pages come as one zip.
3. Unzip the images. Most phones' file apps can open a zip.
4. Open Compress image, add all the page images, pick a target size preset or type a custom one in KB, and download them.
5. Open Images to PDF, add the compressed images, check the order, choose A4 or Letter if the form expects a paper size, and press Download.

Images to PDF places JPG files in the PDF as they are, with no further compression, so the final PDF lands close to the sum of the images plus a few KB.

Rough targets

The lower the target, the more detail a page loses: at 20 to 50 KB the loss becomes noticeable. If a page has fine print, give it more of the budget and give a mostly blank page less.

Common reasons it will not go smaller

• The PDF is mostly text. Text PDFs are already compact; compression saves only a few percent. Cutting pages is the only big win.
• The file was already compressed. If Compress PDF says "Already compact", it offers no new download because nothing it tried made the file smaller.
• The photos are in CMYK. Photos in print colour spaces are left as they are by Compress PDF. The rebuild route above handles them, since each page is rendered fresh.
• Each page is a huge camera photo. If you are making the PDF yourself from photos, compress the photos before building the PDF rather than after.

Before you upload

Open the final PDF and read every page at normal zoom, especially numbers, dates and signatures. A form that rejects an unreadable scan costs more time than a slightly larger file. Some forms also limit the page size or the number of pages; check those rules along with the size cap.

Questions

Can the tool compress a PDF to exactly 100 KB?

Not in one step. Compress PDF reports what each level achieves. The rebuild route above is the way to aim at a number, because Compress image does take a KB target.

Will the reviewer be able to read it?

That depends on the page and the target. Read every page of the final file at normal zoom before uploading, and raise the per-page target if small print has blurred.

Do any of these steps upload my document?

No. Every tool in this guide runs in your browser, so ID scans and certificates stay on your device.