Compress PDF to 200 KB
Fit certificates, transcripts and short multi-page documents under a 200 KB upload limit.
Done
This copy has no password or restrictions. The original was protected, but anyone who has this copy can open, print and copy it — to lock it again, use Protect PDF.
To get under the limit, send the document in parts with Split PDF, or take out pages the form does not need with Delete PDF Pages, then compress again.
How to compress a PDF to 200 KB
- Add the PDF by dropping it on the box above or clicking to browse. It stays on your device the whole time.
- Target size is already set to Under 200 KB. Change it if the portal gives another figure; Custom takes any number of kilobytes.
- Choose where the search starts with Compression level: Balanced suits most scans, Light begins at a higher resolution for fine print, and Strong starts lower and finishes sooner on long files.
- Press Compress PDF and let each attempt work through the pages; the status line shows the attempt number and the resolution being tried.
- A file that fits downloads straight away, named after the original with -compressed added. If nothing fits, nothing downloads until you choose to.
What people use it for
200 KB is a common ceiling where a portal expects a short document rather than a single sheet — room for a few clear pages, not a thick bundle.
- A degree certificate and transcript for a university or scholarship application.
- A CV and cover letter for a recruitment site that limits each attachment.
- Payslips or a bank statement requested by a rental or loan application.
- Supporting papers for a residence permit, tax or benefits e-service.
- Experience or reference letters for a public-sector job application.
Good to know
Think of 200 KB as a budget shared by every page. A single page can keep a fair amount of detail within it; four pages get around 50 KB each, and ten pages only about 20 KB, which is where small print starts to suffer. The page count therefore matters more than any setting. Pages are redrawn as JPEG images, so the result has no selectable or searchable text and loses any links or form fields — fine for a scan, which was an image already, but keep the original of anything else. The search tries the best JPEG quality first and lowers the resolution only when it must, stopping at about 58 dpi. If the target is still out of reach, you see the smallest size it managed and the gap to your target, with no automatic download.
The limit is treated as 200,000 bytes, a shade under what some computers display as 200 KB, because upload forms count kilobytes in different ways. Reading the file, drawing the pages, encoding them and assembling the new PDF all happen on your own machine, so a transcript or payslip is never handed to a server along the way.
Questions people ask
Why is my scan so large in the first place?
Scanners and phone apps often default to high resolution and full colour, and many store each page as a lightly compressed image. If you can scan again, choose greyscale at 150 dpi: the pages start much smaller, and the result here comes out sharper for the same size.
It could not get under 200 KB. What now?
Trim the file before compressing. Blank pages, instruction sheets and duplicates can go with Delete PDF Pages; if the form offers several upload boxes, Split PDF lets you send the document in parts that each fit.
How should I check the compressed file?
Open it at actual size and read what an assessor will look at: names, grades, dates, reference numbers, signatures and official stamps. Faint stamps are usually the first thing to fade. If something important has blurred, start again with fewer pages rather than a lower target.
Will the portal accept a PDF made this way?
Almost always: it is a standard PDF with one image per page, the same structure a scanner produces. The exception is a form that asks for searchable text or a PDF/A file, which image-only pages cannot satisfy. If your photos started as separate images, JPG to PDF can join them into one file before you compress it.