Fixed target vs Custom level: which concept fits?
Fixed targets (100–500 KB) are deadline-driven: the portal says ‘under 300 KB’ and you need to land there. The tool tries successively stronger settings until the file fits, keeping the best quality that still fits.
Custom levels (Low/Medium/High/Maximum) are quality-focused, so you say ‘make it reasonably small but keep it beautiful’ and the tool applies one preset. No hunt for a size: you control the feel.
- Portal with stated limit → use that exact fixed target (e.g., 200 KB).
- Email/storage/sharing with no hard cap → use Custom → Medium (or Low for archiving).
- You want the absolute smallest → Custom → Maximum, or 100 KB if a hard micro-limit is stated.
Content matters more than page count
A 20-page text report can be smaller than a single-page colour scan. Before you choose, ask: is my PDF mostly text, or mostly images?
- Text-only (Word export, contract, resume): forgiving. 100–300 KB works well even for many pages.
- Mixed (report with charts/photos): balanced: budget 300–500 KB for comfort.
- Scan/photo-heavy (certificates photographed on phone): heavy: allow 500 KB–1 MB unless grayscale and 150 DPI were used.
The one-minute decision tree
Follow this in order:
- 1. Is there a stated KB limit? → pick that fixed target. Done.
- 2. No limit but you’re emailing? → Custom → Medium; if total message >10 MB, try Custom → High.
- 3. Archiving/printing and quality is paramount? → Custom → Low.
- 4. Need absolute smallest for a chat app? → Custom → Maximum (or 100 KB if the limit is that low).
- 5. After any choice, preview at 150% zoom. If small text is soft, step back one level.
Why you should not recompress the same file twice
Each compression pass re-encodes images. The first pass does almost all the saving; later passes save little and soften details. If you need a different size, start again from the original file and pick the new target: don’t compress the compressed copy.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about this topic.
Pick the fixed ‘Compress PDF under 200 KB’ tool: it hunts for the best quality that still lands under 200 KB, which is exactly what the portal checks.
Custom → Medium. It keeps documents crisp for screen and print while still cutting typical reports by 60–80%. Step to High only if you still need more savings.
The tool shows progress, then a download with original vs compressed size. Open the result and zoom to the smallest text: that preview is the ground truth.
Try these tools
Matched to the workflow described in this guide.