Compress a PDF to 300KB
Some entrance exams and the UPSC's registration, listed below, ask for certificates as PDFs of up to 300 KB, and that is room for a page or two of scanned document. Compress can open with 300 KB already chosen: it reads the PDF on your device, starts from the gentlest setting it expects to fit, and reports the size the finished file actually came to. Some files will not fit, and when yours is one of them, Compress says so rather than calling it done.
Updated
What usually fits in 300 KB
- One certificate scanned in color. In our tests a one-page 300 DPI color scan fitted under 300 KB at the Smallest file setting, without needing either of the two lower steps that target mode can use.
- Two scanned pages, such as the front and back of a mark sheet. In our tests a two-page color scan fitted one step above the lowest setting, so give the preview a look before you upload.
- A phone photo of one page: a photo from a 12-megapixel camera fitted at the Recommended setting in our tests — the same setting Compress suggests when no size is set.
What may not fit in 300 KB
- A scan of four or more pages. Even at the lowest setting, each page of our test scans still came to a little over 80 KB, so four such pages will not fit in 300 KB.
- A text-only PDF that is over 300 KB because of the fonts built into it, since Compress re-saves pictures and leaves fonts alone.
- A scan whose pages are stored losslessly instead of as JPEG, which Compress keeps exactly as they are, and a PDF with a password, which it cannot open.
More on this: Why PDF files get large.
If your PDF stays over 300 KB
Drop the pages the form did not ask for
A certificate scanned with its blank back, or a mark sheet saved with a cover page, carries pictures nobody will read. Remove them with Delete PDF pages first; at 300 KB, one page fewer can be the difference.
Give each certificate its own file
The forms below take each certificate as a separate upload, each with its own limit. If you scanned several into one PDF, Split PDF separates them so each has the whole 300 KB to itself.
Mind the minimum
Two of the forms below also refuse a file under 50 KB, and the third one under 20 KB. Compress aims for the best quality that fits rather than the smallest file it can make, but check the size it reports against both ends of the range.
Forms that ask for 300 KB
Each limit is quoted from the publisher's own instructions and dated with the day we read it. These are exam forms whose limits can change from one year's notice to the next, so check this year's instructions for yours.
| Form | Documents | Limit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPSC One Time Registration | Photo identity card document, and the writing-extremity certificate for candidates with a benchmark disability | Not more than 300 KB and not less than 20 KB; the photo ID as a PDF only | upsconline.gov.inread September 30, 2026 |
| JEE (Main) 2026 — National Testing Agency | Class 10 certificate or mark sheet, and a disability or UDID certificate | PDF, between 50 KB and 300 KB | cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.inread September 30, 2026 |
| RIMCEE 2026 — Rashtriya Indian Military College entrance, conducted by the National Testing Agency | Date of birth, domicile and SC/ST certificates | PDF, from 50 KB to 300 KB | cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.inread September 30, 2026 |
A different size
Aiming for a different size? Each of these has its own page.
- Compress a PDF to 20KB
- Compress a PDF to 50KB
- Compress a PDF to 100KB
- Compress a PDF to 200KB
- Compress a PDF to 500KB
- Compress a PDF to 1MB
- Compress a PDF to 2MB
If you have no set size to hit, open Compress PDF without a target and choose from the sizes it offers for your file.
Compress runs in your browser. Your PDF is not uploaded, there is no account, and no watermark is added to the smaller copy.