--- title: "Compress a Scanned PDF to 200 KB, 100 KB or Any Size – Free" description: "Shrink a scanned PDF to the KB limit an online form allows, such as 200 KB or 500 KB. Each page stays readable; pages keep their paper size. Free." url: "https://imagecompressor.si/compress-scanned-pdf" lang: "en" --- # Compress a scanned PDF to a size limit Type the KB limit from the form, and get the same pages in a PDF that fits under it. ## How it works 1. **Add your images** Drag and drop, paste, or pick files. They upload over an encrypted connection. 2. **Pick a quality or a target size** Use the quality slider, or tell it exactly how many KB or MB you need. 3. **Download** Save each file, or grab them all at once as a ZIP. Application portals often cap uploads at a few hundred kilobytes, while a phone scan of three pages easily weighs several megabytes. This tool takes the PDF you have and rebuilds it so it fits under the limit you type. The pages stay in their order and keep their paper size, so the document prints as it did before. Behind the button, every page is drawn as a picture at up to 200 dots per inch. The tool then lowers the resolution and the JPEG quality together, step by step, and keeps the sharpest version whose total size is still under your number. If your PDF is already small enough, you get it back untouched. Your file is processed on our server and deleted when the new PDF is made. We do not keep uploads and do not hand them to other companies. ## Made for scans, not for typed documents Because each page becomes a picture, the result has no text layer: words can no longer be selected, searched or copied. For a scan that makes no difference, since its pages were pictures already. For a PDF exported from a word processor it does, so use this tool on those only when a form insists on a size the original cannot meet. ## Choosing the limit Enter the largest size the form accepts. When the instructions say "up to 200 KB", type 200. The tool counts a kilobyte as 1,000 bytes, which is the stricter of the two readings, so the file passes either way. Leave a little room when you can: a result just under the line is fine, but a portal that counts differently may round it the other way. Grey pages make the file noticeably smaller and suit most letters, marksheets and certificates. Keep colour on when a coloured stamp, seal or photo must stay visible. ## Getting a sharper result Fewer, cleaner pages leave more of the budget for each one. Remove blank pages before you upload, scan on a flat surface in good light, and crop away the table around the paper. A ten-page document squeezed into 100 KB will always look rough; the same pages split into the separate uploads a form allows will each look far better. Scanning apps often save every page at full camera resolution, many times what a form needs. That is why a three-page scan of a few megabytes usually comes down to a couple of hundred kilobytes without any visible loss. ## Frequently asked questions ### Will my document still be readable? At ordinary limits, yes: a page at 100 to 150 dots per inch reads clearly on screen and in print. The tool says which resolution and quality it used, and you should look at every page before submitting. ### Why is my PDF not getting smaller? If the result says the file was already under the limit, nothing needed doing. If it says the limit could not be reached, the document has too many pages for that size even at the lowest setting. ### Can I compress a PDF with selectable text and keep it? Not with this tool. It rebuilds pages as pictures, which is what makes scans small. A PDF made by a program is usually small already. ### Is there a page limit? Twenty pages on the free plan and a hundred on Pro. Longer documents take a long time to rebuild and rarely fit a form's limit anyway. ### Does it work with a password-protected PDF? No. Remove the password in a PDF program first, then upload the unlocked copy. ### Can I upload a photo of a document instead of a PDF? This page takes PDFs. For a single photographed page, our tools for compressing an image to a set number of kilobytes do the same job, and our JPG to PDF tool turns several photos into one PDF that you can then bring here. ## Related tools - [Convert JPG to PDF](https://imagecompressor.si/jpg-to-pdf): Put a set of photos into one PDF, a page for each, in the order you want. - [Convert PDF to JPG](https://imagecompressor.si/pdf-to-jpg): Turn a page of a PDF into a picture. - [Compress an image to 200 KB](https://imagecompressor.si/compress-image-to-200kb): A generous limit that keeps most photos looking close to the original.