When to use it
Compress Image to KB shrinks a photo to fit an exact size limit, such as “under 50 KB” or “maximum 200 KB”. Government and exam portals, job sites, visa applications, university admissions and bank forms often set these strict limits for photos, signatures and scanned documents. Instead of guessing settings, choose the limit and the tool finds the best quality that fits.
How to compress an image to a size in KB
- Under Target size, tap 20 KB, 50 KB, 100 KB, 200 KB or 500 KB, or choose Custom and type any size in Custom size in KB.
- Tap Choose images, or drag JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC files onto the box. You can do several at once.
- Wait a moment. Each image is saved as a JPG just under the target, at the best quality that fits.
- Check the results: each shows the new file size, its dimensions in pixels and the quality used.
- Press Download. Several images come as one ZIP file.
A worked example
An exam registration site asks for a photo between 20 and 50 KB and a signature under 20 KB. Your phone photo is 3.1 MB and your signature scan is 900 KB. Choose 50 KB and add the photo: you get a JPG of about 48 KB, around 600 × 800 pixels, that still looks clear. Then choose 20 KB and add the signature: it comes out at about 18 KB. Both upload without errors.
How it works
The tool tries the highest JPG quality first and checks the size. If it’s too big, it searches for the quality that lands just under your limit. If even acceptable quality is too large, it scales the picture down step by step until it fits. This keeps photos as sharp as possible for the size you’re allowed.
Tips
- Crop first. Removing empty background around a face or signature leaves more of the size budget for the part that matters.
- Check the pixel size rules too. Some forms want, say, 200 × 230 pixels as well as a KB limit; use Resize Image for that, then compress.
- Pick a target a little below the limit if a form is fussy about rounding, for example 95 KB for a 100 KB limit.
- Use good lighting for signature photos; clean contrast compresses better.
Common mistakes
- Setting the target far below what’s needed. A 10 KB passport photo will look blurry; use the largest size the form allows.
- Compressing an already-compressed image repeatedly. Start from the original photo.
- Expecting a PNG back. The output is always JPG, which most forms prefer.
- Ignoring minimum sizes. Some portals reject files under, say, 10 KB as well.
Private by design
Images are compressed in your browser and never uploaded.
Related tools
Make a correctly framed photo with the Passport Photo Maker, set exact dimensions with Resize Image, or compress without a size target using Compress Image.