Compress Image
Bring a photo or a signature under the size a form asks for, such as 20 KB or 200 KB.
Choose imageDrag & drop your file anywhere in this box.
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Getting a photo under 20 KB without it turning to mush
Upload limits on Indian government and university portals are strict and unexplained. A recruitment form wants the photograph under 20 KB and the signature under 10 KB; a university application wants the marksheet under 200 KB; the page refuses the file and tells you nothing more. The numbers come from their storage and from the connections of the people filling the form, so there is no negotiating with them.
The instinct is to shrink the picture until it fits, but that is usually the wrong lever first. Most form photographs are far larger than they need to be because a phone camera writes enormous files, not because the picture has too many pixels. Re-encoding the same image at a lower quality often reaches 20 KB on its own, and the dimensions stay where they were, which matters when the form checks those too.
That is the order this tool works in. It tries the full size first and finds the highest quality that comes in under your number. Only if nothing at full size will fit does it start making the picture smaller, in steps, and it stops at the first step that works. You end up with the best looking version that the limit allows rather than the smallest one the tool could produce.
Simple, practical guidance
How to use Compress Image
Forms rarely ask for better or worse quality, they ask for a number: 20 KB for the photograph, 10 KB for the signature, 200 KB for a scanned document. So you give the number, and the work happens in this page without the picture being sent anywhere.
- 1
Choose the photograph, signature or scan.
- 2
Pick the size the form asks for, or type it in.
- 3
Select Compress image and check the result.
- 4
Download the smaller picture.
Get a better result
Full size is kept whenever a quality setting alone can reach your number, because the dimensions are usually what a form checks next. Only when no quality at full size will fit is the picture itself made smaller, and then only as far as it has to be.
Know how your file is handled
Nothing is uploaded. Your browser decodes the image, redraws it and encodes it again on your own machine, which matters more here than on most tools: an identity photograph is the last file that should be sitting on somebody else's server.
Check before you share
The result is always a JPG, so transparency is lost and a transparent background becomes white. A very small target on a detailed photograph will show compression marks, and an image that is already tiny cannot usefully get smaller.
Questions people ask
Compress Image FAQ
Hitting an exact limit, what happens to the dimensions, and why the file comes back as a JPG.
How do I compress a photo to 20 KB?
Choose the photograph, pick 20 KB, and run it. The tool finds the highest quality that comes in under 20 KB, trying the original dimensions first. Most phone photographs reach it comfortably, because the file was large for reasons that have nothing to do with how much detail a form needs.
Will my photo keep its width and height?
Wherever possible, yes. Dimensions are only reduced when no quality setting at the original size will reach your target, and then by the smallest step that works. This matters because forms that specify a size in KB often specify pixel dimensions too.
Why do I get a JPG even though I uploaded a PNG?
JPG is the format that can be told to hit a size. PNG keeps every pixel exactly, which is right for diagrams and screenshots but means it cannot be squeezed to an arbitrary number. For a photograph or a scan, JPG is also what forms expect.
What happens to a transparent background?
It becomes white. JPG has no way to store transparency, so anything see-through is drawn onto a white sheet before encoding. If you need the transparency, this is the wrong tool for that image.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. Your browser decodes the image, draws it onto a canvas and encodes it again, all on your own machine. The picture never leaves the device, which is the behaviour you want for an identity photograph or a signature.
My image will not get under the size I asked for.
You still get the smallest version the tool can make, and it tells you what that came to. This happens with very large detailed photographs and very small targets. Cropping to just the face or the signature before compressing does more than any setting, because there is simply less picture to store.
Can I compress a signature to 10 KB?
Yes, and signatures are the easiest case. A signature on white paper is mostly flat background, which compresses extremely well, so 10 KB is usually reached at the original dimensions with the writing still crisp.
Does compressing the image twice make it smaller?
It makes it worse. The second pass re-encodes a picture that has already lost detail, adding its own marks on top for very little size. Go back to the original photograph and pick a smaller target instead.
Should I compress the image or make a PDF first?
It depends what the form wants. If it asks for a JPG, compress the image here. If it asks for a PDF under a size limit, build the PDF from your images first and compress that, because compressing the pictures and the PDF separately loses quality twice. JPG to PDF
Why is my compressed photo blurry at 20 KB?
Twenty kilobytes is very little room for a detailed photograph, so something has to give. Crop tightly first so the file is spending its space on the face rather than on the background, and scan or photograph against a plain wall, which compresses far better than a busy one.