How to reduce a photo’s file size to a specific KB

Job portals, exam forms, visa applications and government sites often want a photo or a scanned signature under a limit like 50, 100 or 200 KB. A phone photo is usually 2–5 MB, so it needs to get 20–50 times smaller. That’s easy if you do it in the right order.

The quick way: compress to a target size

1. Open Compress image and select your photo.
2. Choose Target size and type the limit, for example 100 KB.
3. Choose JPG as the format (forms almost always accept it), click Compress and download.

The photo is saved at the highest quality that fits under your limit. If even low quality isn’t enough, it is also made smaller in pixels, just enough to fit.

For the sharpest result

• Crop first. Cut away everything the form doesn’t need with Crop image — a passport photo needs a head and shoulders, not the whole room. Fewer pixels means more quality per KB.
• Resize to what the form asks for. Many forms state pixel sizes too, like 600 × 800. Use Resize image to match them, then compress.
• Use JPG, not PNG, for photos. PNG files are several times larger.

Check the form’s rules before uploading: many also specify a plain background, a pixel size, or the JPG format.