Compress an image to 100 KB
The application-portal special. 100 KB is preloaded as the target, drop the image and the tool trades quality, then size, until it fits underneath.
Guide
How to use it
- Drop the image in, the 100 KB target is already set (edit it if your form says otherwise).
- Tap Shrink to target.
- Read the result note: it says what quality it landed on and whether dimensions were reduced.
- Download and upload to your form. If the portal still complains, set the target to 90 and rerun, some systems measure generously.
Examples
The 100 KB reality check
A document photo compresses to 100 KB with text still legible if it starts reasonably framed. Crop to the document first, wasted background spends your byte budget on nothing.
Portraits are 100 KB’s best case: faces survive quality 65 easily. Expect roughly 1000-pixel dimensions and quality around 70 from a phone original.
The hardest case, fine detail everywhere. Getting under 100 KB typically means dropping to about 900 pixels wide. If the portal allows 200 KB, use 200.
Method
How it works
This is the target-size engine preset to 100 KB: it binary-searches JPG quality levels for the largest file under target, and only if minimum quality is still too heavy does it scale dimensions down and retry, up to six rounds.
Re-encoding through the canvas also strips EXIF metadata (including GPS location), which application portals should not receive anyway. All of it runs on your device.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Why do portals demand 100 KB anyway?
Legacy storage decisions, mostly. The limit persists because changing government and university systems is slower than shrinking images.
Will my document still be readable?
Usually yes if you crop to the document before compressing. If text goes mushy, crop tighter and retry, fewer pixels wasted on the desk means more for the words.
Exactly 100 KB or under it?
The tool lands under the target. Portals that say "100 KB" sometimes mean 102,400 bytes and sometimes 100,000, landing at 97 KB avoids the argument entirely.
Why not just screenshot the image smaller?
Screenshots re-rasterise at your screen resolution and often come out larger as PNGs. Direct re-encoding controls both axes properly.
Can I do several documents at once?
This page is deliberately one-at-a-time for precision. The batch compressor handles sets, at a quality you pick rather than a byte target.
Is my passport scan safe here?
It never leaves the device. For sensitive documents that is not a feature, it is the requirement, and it is why no upload happens.
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