Pick the exact file size your portal demands and download a PDF that fits it. The tool steps through quality levels from best to smallest and stops at the first one that fits under your target — all in your browser, never uploaded. Perfect for US job portals, EU visa forms and email limits.
Researched by PDFBuddyFree Team · Last updated October 22, 2026
Drop your PDF here or click to browse
Scanned and image-heavy PDFs compress best
Upload forms fail for a boring reason: size limits. A job portal caps CV uploads at 200KB; a visa application rejects scans above 300KB; an email server bounces a 6MB attachment. This tool solves the "file size exceeds limit" moment directly: you tell it the number, and it walks eight quality/scale settings from high quality down to tiny — downloading the first result that fits. The table below shows the moments each preset serves:
| Target | Typical use | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 200 KB | Job portals, CV uploads, online applications | Readable scan — text clear, photos soft |
| 300 KB | Visa, government and university forms | Crisp text — safe middle ground |
| 1 MB | Email attachments, WhatsApp/Telegram documents | Sharp on screen — fine for reading |
| 2 MB | Larger forms, multi-page reports | Near-original look — prints acceptably |
Limits vary by portal — always check the exact number your form states and pick the matching preset. Illustrative examples; your file's content decides the final quality.
A tenant needs to upload a 12-page scanned lease to a rental portal that caps uploads at 1 MB. They drop the 3.2 MB PDF, pick the 1 MB preset, and press Compress. The tool tries high quality (1.6 scale / 82% JPEG) → 2.4 MB, too big; balanced (1.3 / 68%) → 1.7 MB, still too big; balanced (1.1 / 60%) → 940 KB — fits. The 940 KB PDF downloads, uploads first try, and every clause stays legible on screen.
Exact-size targeting re-renders each page as a JPEG. That is how a precise size is possible — but it means text becomes part of the image (no longer selectable) and the result works best on scanned or image-heavy PDFs, not text-only ones.
A dense 40-page scan may never fit 200KB at readable quality. When that happens, the tool tells you the smallest size it reached — pick a larger preset rather than forcing an unreadable file.
The tool shows the real measured file size — not an estimate. Glance at it before uploading so your portal accepts the file first time.
Drop your PDF on the tool above, select the 200KB preset and press Compress. The tool steps through quality levels from high to compact and stops at the first setting that fits under 200KB, then downloads the file. Works best on scanned or image-heavy PDFs — the most common CV formats.
Choose the 300KB preset. Visa and government portals often cap uploads at 200–500KB; 300KB is a safe middle ground that keeps scanned documents readable. If the result still exceeds the limit, the tool tells you exactly how big it is so you can retry with 200KB.
Yes — the 1MB preset targets exactly that. Many email providers and corporate inboxes reject attachments above a few MB, so a 1MB version of a large PDF sails through while staying sharp enough to read on screen.
Yes — unlimited files, any target size, forever. No signup, no watermark, no daily caps. Everything happens in your browser, so there is nothing to meter.
The tool starts with the highest quality setting that fits under your target and only reduces quality as far as needed. At 200–300KB targets, scanned pages stay readable for forms; at 1–2MB, they stay sharp on screen and in print.
Entirely on your device. The PDF is rendered to images and re-compressed with JavaScript in this browser tab — it is never uploaded to any server, which is why sensitive scans are safe here.
Very dense scans sometimes can't fit 200KB no matter what. The tool downloads the smallest version it could make and tells you its exact size — then try a slightly larger preset like 300KB or 1MB, which almost always works.
Yes. Select 'Custom', type any size in KB (for example 500KB for a school portal that caps uploads there), and the tool aims for exactly that number.
Portal limits in examples are typical values — always use the exact number your form states. Compression happens entirely in your browser; nothing is stored or transmitted. Researched by PDFBuddyFree Team · Last updated October 22, 2026.