Compress a PDF to under 200 KB
200 KB is a common limit for certificates, marksheets and supporting documents. With one page it’s easy. With five or six it gets tight, and the trick is to think in a budget per page.
Work out your per-page budget
Every page has to share the limit. Here’s roughly how much each page can use:
| Pages | Each page can use about |
|---|---|
| 1 | 200 KB |
| 2 | 100 KB |
| 3 | 66 KB |
| 4 | 50 KB |
| 6 | 33 KB |
| 10 | 20 KB |
The PDF itself needs a little room too, so real budgets are slightly smaller. The smaller each page’s share, the more detail every page has to give up, so with a tight budget check the smallest text on each page after compressing.
Make the budget bigger
- Leave out pages nobody asked for, such as blank backs or instruction sheets. Split (free) extracts just the pages you need.
- Use every upload slot. If the form has separate slots, one document per slot gives each file its own 200 KB.
- Scan in grayscale at about 150 dpi when colour isn’t required.
- Building a PDF from phone photos? Crop them first, then Images to PDF (free) puts them on A4 or Letter pages in the order you choose.
Compress it with Plainware PDF
Click the Plainware PDF button in Chrome’s toolbar and open Compress to a size (Pro).
Drop in the PDF and choose 200 KB.
Run it. You see the real size, and whether the text is still selectable.
If 200 KB can’t be reached, it tells you and offers the smallest file it could make. Go back to the budget: drop a page, or rescan at a lower resolution.
Several documents to send?
Batch, also part of Plainware Pro, runs Compress to a size on a whole set of PDFs at once and gives you a zip. Each file is checked against the size you set, just as it would be on its own.
Why not an online compressor?
They work, but they upload your documents to someone else’s server. For certificates, ID cards and bank statements that’s a real cost. Plainware PDF does the work in your browser. Once Pro is activated, you can even try it with your Wi-Fi switched off.
Plainware PDF isn’t connected to or approved by any exam board, university or government portal. Always check the portal’s own rules. Need 100 KB instead?