How to compress a PDF under 200 KB (or 100 KB) for online forms
Many portals - scholarship, exam, passport, bank and job sites - only accept PDFs under 100, 200 or 500 KB. Here's how to get under the limit in a minute, for free.
Why is my PDF so big?
A PDF is usually big because of the pictures inside it: scanned pages, phone photos of documents, or certificates saved as images. Text itself takes very little space. So the trick is to shrink the pictures while keeping the text readable.
Step by step
- Open Compress PDF and add your file. It's processed on your phone or computer - nothing is uploaded.
- Choose Recommended and press Compress PDF. Check the new size shown next to the file.
- Still too big? Choose Strong and try again.
- For scanned documents, also tick Scanned document mode and Make pictures black & white. This usually brings a 2-5 MB scan down to well under 200 KB.
- Download the smaller file and upload it to the portal.
Tips if it's still over the limit
- Remove pages you don't need - extra blank pages or instructions - with Remove pages.
- Scan at a lower resolution next time. 150-200 DPI is plenty for forms; 600 DPI scans are huge.
- Split it. If the portal allows several uploads, use Split PDF to send it in parts.
- Photo of a document? Crop the edges first with Crop image, then make the PDF with JPG to PDF and compress it.
Will the PDF still be readable?
Yes. Nibadai only re-compresses the pictures, so typed text stays sharp and selectable. In Scanned document mode the pages become clean images - still easy to read, just not selectable. Always open the result once before you submit.