A page count, not a file size, decides whether 100KB is realistic
One page gets the whole 100KB budget. Ten pages split that budget ten ways. That single fact predicts most of what happens when you try to hit a small target: a one-page form compresses comfortably, and a ten-page scan of the same form does not, even though nothing else about the document changed.
Here is why. A scan is a picture of each page, so to reach a small target PDkef makes those pictures smaller. It steps down from images up to 2400 pixels on their long side at high JPEG quality to 600 pixels at low quality, then fine-tunes between the first step that fits and the one above it, to keep the sharpest result that still fits. A typed PDF has no pictures to shrink: its text is left exactly as it is, and if the file is already under the target it is kept byte for byte. When even the smallest step is too big, the tool says so, and a switch called Turn pages into pictures can go further, at the cost of selectable text.
What 100KB actually looks like at different page counts
| Document | Original size | Result at a 100KB target | Still readable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| One typed page (native PDF text) | 2.9 KB | Kept unchanged, already under target | Yes, perfectly, it was never touched |
| One scanned page | 410 KB | 97 KB, 76% smaller | Yes, crisp and fully legible |
| Five scanned pages | 2.0 MB | 99.8 KB total, 95% smaller | Yes, readable, with visibly softer text |
| Ten scanned pages | 4.0 MB | 118 KB, target missed; 95 KB with pages turned into pictures | Headings legible, body paragraphs not |
The typed page never needed compressing at all: native PDF text is already tiny, and PDkef never turns text into a picture unless you switch that on yourself. The other three rows are the same scanned form at 1, 5 and 10 pages, each compressed with nothing else changed.
A ten-page scan does not fit in 100KB and stay readable
Ten pages at 100KB leaves about 10KB per page. Shrinking the images took the ten-page scan to 118KB, about 12KB a page, and the tool said plainly that the target was missed. Turning the pages into pictures got it under, to 95KB. In both, the form's title and headings stayed legible and the body paragraphs did not. That is the arithmetic, not a bug in the tool: a portal asking for 100KB across ten pages is asking for something that may not stay readable, whichever compressor you use. The same ten pages at a 200KB target came out at 199KB with every line readable.
- 1Split the document first. If the portal accepts multiple uploads, use Split PDF to submit fewer pages per file, so each one gets a larger share of the size budget.
- 2Check whether a higher limit is actually required. Many forms show "up to 500KB" or "up to 1MB" once you look past the placeholder text; 100KB is frequently a default, not a hard technical ceiling.
- 3Scan in grayscale at a lower resolution to start. A black-and-white document scanned at 150 DPI grayscale is a fraction of the size of the same page scanned in colour at 300 DPI, before any compression at all.
- 4Accept the trade for genuinely long documents. A ten-plus page scan aimed at 100KB will lose some sharpness. Try 200KB or 500KB if the portal allows it; the difference in legibility is large for a small increase in size.
Real portals, and the size caps they actually publish
| Portal | What it caps | Documented limit |
|---|---|---|
| IBPS (bank recruitment exams) | ID proof, certificates, combined marksheet PDF | PDF only, 500 KB maximum |
| IBPS (bank recruitment exams) | Photograph and signature uploads | Photograph 20 KB to 50 KB, signature 10 KB to 20 KB, JPEG only |
| NTA UGC-NET (and similar NTA exams) | Candidate photograph upload | 10 KB to 200 KB, JPEG only |
| NTA UGC-NET (and similar NTA exams) | Candidate signature upload | 4 KB to 30 KB, JPEG only |
IBPS's own recruitment guidelines state that identity proof, certificates and the consolidated marksheet (candidates are told to combine every semester into a single PDF) must be uploaded as one PDF file, capped at 500KB (ibps.in candidate portal). These caps were set for slow connections and small server quotas, and most have outlived the reason they exist, but the portals still enforce them.
The National Testing Agency's UGC-NET information bulletin specifies a 10KB to 200KB photograph and a 4KB to 30KB signature, both JPEG, quoted directly from its published information bulletin.
The same candidate portal that sets IBPS's 500KB document cap also publishes separate, much smaller limits for the photograph and signature themselves: a photograph between 20KB and 50KB, and a signature between 10KB and 20KB, both plain JPEG (ibps.in candidate portal, photograph and signature guidelines). A photograph is one image rather than a page count, so a cap that small is usually reachable, unlike a multi-page scan. Compress Image runs a target-size search on a JPG or PNG, with presets down to 50KB and any smaller size you type, and it shows the closest size it found if your file still will not fit.
Indonesia's own civil-service portal, SSCASN, runs the same idea at a looser limit: most PDF documents up to 1MB, with a photograph, KTP and payment proof each capped at 200KB. PDkef's Indonesian-language guide covers those numbers in Bahasa Indonesia, tested against the same compressor as this page.
Try it on your own file before deciding what to do next
Open the free PDF compressor, choose Exact size, and enter the limit your portal actually asks for. The file never leaves your device, so there is no upload wait to find out whether it fits: you will know in seconds, and you can raise the target or split the file if it does not.