PDF compression
Compress a PDF to 200 KB
A common portal limit. Small enough to pass, but with more room than 100 KB for photos to stay clear.
Drag & drop your PDF here
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What you get at 200 KB
This is the size you’ll see most often on job, college and government upload forms. “PDF must be under 200 KB.” It’s strict, but not as unforgiving as 100 KB. A two-page typed resume usually ends up well under the line with text still razor-sharp. A colour certificate with a photo can still fit, though the photo may look slightly softer than the original.
The tool doesn’t just jump to the strongest compression. It tries a lighter setting first and only moves stronger if the file is still too big, so you keep the clearest version that still passes the check.
When to pick 200 KB
When the upload box says 200 KB. That’s it. If it says 500 KB, your file will look a little better at 500 KB; if it says 100 KB, you have to use 100 KB even though it’s tighter.
Everyday example: you’ve got a scanned caste certificate: two pages, 4 MB because you took it in colour on your phone. At 500 KB it would look perfect, but the portal rejects anything over 200 KB. Bringing it to 190 KB with readable small print is exactly what this page is for.
Getting there without hurting readability
- Use your original file. Don’t recompress a PDF you’ve already shrunk. Start fresh each time you try a different size.
- Check the scan. If you can rescan one heavy page in grayscale, do it. It’s often the single biggest saving without any visible loss for text.
- Drop it in and download. Then zoom to 150%, check the filing number, the tiny footnote, the seal. If the lines are continuous, send it.
Why it sometimes stops above 200 KB
Honest limits: not every file can hit 200 KB and still read well:
A colour photo that must stay colour
If the certificate’s photo has to stay in colour, the file may settle around 230–280 KB with good quality. Forcing it under 200 KB would soften the photo. Try grayscale only where colour isn’t required.
A file that was already exported as “Smallest size”
Word and Acrobat have already trimmed what they can. You’ll only shave a little more here. Rebuilding from the original Word file with smaller images helps more than recompressing.
If you see 215 KB when you asked for 200 KB, don’t run that new file through again: it will just get blurrier. Go back to the original and try 300 KB, or see if the portal lets you split a long PDF into two uploads.
Will small print still read?
For most documents, yes. Typed text stays sharp because we keep the font data itself. Scanned handwriting and seals are the first to show softness: look for broken fine lines. At 200 KB most people won’t see a difference at normal zoom; you’ll only notice side-by-side. If a signature must be forensic-clear, keep the original and offer a 300 KB copy if the portal allows it.
Private and phone-friendly
Same uploader on desktop and phone: on iPhone from Files, on Android from Downloads or Drive. No upload means no server copy sitting somewhere afterwards. For ID proofs that feels more appropriate than sending them to a random server.
Frequently asked questions
I scanned a marksheet in colour. Should I redo it?
If the portal doesn’t require colour, yes: rescan that page in grayscale. You’ll often drop under 200 KB with crisper small print than if you forced the colour scan down.
What if my PDF is locked with a password?
Remove the password first and save a fresh copy, then compress that copy. Locked PDFs can’t be read for compression.