Frequently asked questions
My portal says "PDF must be less than 500 KB" — will this work?
Yes — that's exactly what this tool is for. It compresses to the highest quality that stays under 500 KB, so the document remains clearly readable for the reviewer.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. The PDF is rendered and rebuilt by your own browser. It never touches a server — safe even for bank statements and ID documents.
Will the text still be selectable?
For strong compression the pages are converted to high-quality images, so text is no longer selectable. Upload portals don't care — but keep your original for editing.
500 KB: enough room for scans and longer documents
500 KB is a comfortable limit that shows up on multi-page contracts, scanned agreements, tender submissions and job-portal document packs. It's the size to reach for when you have several pages or genuine scans and a tighter cap would force you to sacrifice readability.
What this size lets you keep
With 500 KB to work with, a multi-page scanned document stays clearly legible, and a longer text PDF compresses with no perceptible loss at all. Colour scans that would turn muddy at 100 KB remain sharp here, which makes 500 KB the sensible default whenever a portal allows it and your document is more than a page or two.
Practical guidance
- Don't over-compress. If 500 KB is the limit and your file is already under it, there's no benefit to squeezing further — you'd only lose quality for nothing.
- Merge multi-part submissions first. Combine everything with Merge PDF, then compress the whole pack once to 500 KB.
- For contracts you may need to edit, remember that strong compression makes text non-selectable — keep the editable original alongside the upload copy.
Choose 500 KB above. If a stricter field rejects it, step down to 200 KB.