Resize an image to a target KB
For every form that says "maximum 200 KB". Set the number, and quality (then size, if needed) is trimmed until your image fits under it.
Guide
How to use it
- Drop your image in.
- Type the limit from the form, if it says "max 200 KB", enter 200 (or a touch under, like 190, for safety).
- Tap Shrink to target. The tool searches quality levels, and scales dimensions down only if quality alone cannot get there.
- Download and upload. The result note tells you exactly what was traded to fit.
Examples
Typical limits in the wild
Government portals and visa applications. A phone photo squeezes to 100 KB at readable quality once dimensions come down to about 1200 pixels.
Job boards and university applications, usually for a headshot. At portrait sizes, 200 KB allows quality around 80, visually indistinguishable for a face.
CMS and forum attachments. Most photos reach 500 KB from quality alone with no resizing at all.
Method
How it works
Output is JPG, the format with a proper quality dial. The tool binary-searches seven quality levels for the largest one under your target, if even minimum quality is too big, dimensions are scaled down 30% and the search repeats, up to six rounds.
This mirrors what a patient human would do manually, it just does the eleven test encodes in a second, on your device, without uploading anything.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Why is the output always JPG?
JPG is the only widely accepted format with fine-grained size control for photos. PNG has no quality dial, its size barely responds to anything but dimensions.
Will 100 KB look terrible?
For a photo shown at web sizes, usually not, quality 60 to 75 at sensible dimensions reads fine. Large prints are a different matter, but upload forms are not asking for prints.
The tool says it cannot reach my target. Why?
Extremely small targets (say 5 KB) can be beyond any quality-dimension combination for a detailed photo. Raise the target slightly or crop the image tighter first.
Should I aim exactly at the limit?
Aim 5 to 10% under it. Some systems measure size differently (kibibytes vs kilobytes) and reject files that look fine by your maths.
Does it strip metadata?
Yes, re-encoding through the canvas drops EXIF data including location, which most upload forms neither need nor should have.
Is my document photo safe here?
It never leaves your machine, there is nothing to intercept or retain. That is the reason this tool exists.
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