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GivenTool

Compress a PDF to 1 MB

Shrink a scanned PDF to 1 MB or less for an upload form. Image-based output: text will not be selectable.

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A 1 MB cap is typical when a portal takes a whole application pack as one PDF: a set of scanned passport pages, bank statements or academic records for a visa, a residency renewal or a university application. Choose the PDF and it is rebuilt at the best quality that fits under 1 MB.

How it works, honestly: each page is rendered to an image and the PDF is rebuilt from those images. That is what allows large reductions without uploading anything, but the text in the result can no longer be selected, searched or copied, and links and form fields are removed. It is the right choice for scanned documents and for uploads to portals with a size limit; keep the original for everything else.

One megabyte is a comfortable budget for a scanned application pack in black and white; colour and photos use it up faster. If the limit is for all documents together, merge them first with Merge PDF, then compress the combined file so the budget is shared sensibly between pages.

How to use it

  1. Choose the PDF (merge several files first if the portal wants one).
  2. Turn on black and white for text scans.
  3. Click Compress PDF; the target is 1 MB.
  4. Check the reported resolution and zoom in on the result before uploading.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded?

No. The file is read and processed by your browser on your device; nothing is sent to a server. You can load the page, switch off Wi-Fi and it still works.

Why is the text no longer selectable?

Browsers cannot re-encode the fonts and vector graphics inside a PDF, so the only way to shrink any PDF on your device is to turn each page into a compressed image. The pages look the same, but they are pictures. For a scan this changes nothing, because it was already pictures.

What if the result is larger than my file?

Text-only PDFs made by Word or a web browser are often already tiny, and turning them into images can make them bigger. The tool tells you when that happens; keep the original.

Is 1 MB 1,000 KB or 1,024 KB?

This page targets 1,024 KB (1,048,576 bytes). If a portal rejects the file, it may count 1 MB as 1,000,000 bytes; use the main compressor with a target of 950 KB.

My statement is 40 pages. Will it fit?

Probably not at a readable resolution. Remove pages the application does not need, or ask whether you can upload several files.

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