How to Reduce PDF and Photo Size for Online Applications

Why do application sites reject your files?

Government, school and job portals often set a maximum size for each upload. Phone photos and scanned PDFs are frequently much larger than needed, so the upload fails with a "file too large" message.

Reducing the size lets a file upload faster and fit inside email limits, as long as it stays readable.

How to compress a PDF

Scanned documents shrink a lot; text-only PDFs are usually small already. Zoom in on the result to make sure small print is still readable.

• Open Compress PDF and add your file.
• Choose a compression level and start. Try the lowest level first.
• Download the result and open it.
• If it is still too large, try a stronger level or remove pages with Delete PDF Pages.

How to make photos smaller

In Image Compressor, lower the quality setting and, if needed, reduce the width and height. For passport and ID photos, Document Photo Resizer has ready-made sizes. These are common sizes, not official rules, so check the requirements of the office you are applying to.

Tips to keep quality while reducing size

• Keep the original file as a backup.
• Open the compressed file and check small text before you upload.
• Compress once rather than again and again, because repeated compression lowers quality.
• Resize photos first and convert them to PDF afterwards. See how to convert JPG photos to PDF.

Merge first, compress second

If you need to send several documents, merge them first with Merge PDF and compress the single result. Read how to merge PDF files for the steps.