PDFs for visa and admission forms: 500 KB, 1 MB or 2 MB

The short answer

Use the biggest size the form allows, and let Resize PDF land just under it. Pick 500 KB, 1 MB or 2 MB under File size, or choose Other and type any number of KB. The page makes the file, measures it and adjusts until the result is within 15% under your limit, so it keeps your pages as sharp as the limit allows.

Why the biggest size? A bigger limit gives each page more room, and nobody checking your form gains from a smaller file. A form that says "up to 2 MB" is happy with 1.78 MB: in our test, that is where a 42-page scan of 47.8 MB landed, and the pictures were still Sharp.

Forms such as these are common on admission, scholarship, bank and government portals, and the usual limits are 50 KB, 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB and 2 MB. Every portal sets its own rules and changes them from year to year, so your form's own notice always wins.

What each size buys you

A limit is a budget shared by all the pages of your scan. These are real results from our tests, put under each size with Resize PDF. "Pictures" is the word the result gave:

Read it like this. At 500 KB, a four-page scan stayed Good, which is clear on screens and office printers. At 2 MB, even 42 pages stayed Sharp. The last row is the exception, and it is not a scan: a long text document has a smallest size, which we come back to below.

Compare that with smaller limits. The same four-page colour contract kept 73 ppi under 100 KB and 99 ppi under 200 KB, both Readable, and was Good under 500 KB. Three scans joined into 14 pages were Rough at 38 ppi under 100 KB and Readable at 48 ppi under 200 KB. Doubling the room makes a visible difference, and 500 KB or more makes pages look much more like the original. The how sharp it stays section explains the words Sharp, Good, Readable and Rough.

Papers that usually need these limits

We tested scans and text-heavy files, not every kind of paper, so this part describes documents by kind. Open your own result and check it:

• Passport pages and ID cards. One or two pages. At 500 KB, one page of a scan has far more room than our four-page tests, so it should stay clear. Check names, numbers and dates.
• Degree certificates and mark sheets. Often several pages. A four-page scan was Good under 500 KB in our tests.
• Bank statements and pay slips. If you downloaded them from your bank, they are usually typed PDFs, which have a smallest size. A long statement may not get very small. Send only the pages the form asks for.
• A statement of purpose, a CV or a cover letter. Made on a computer, so they stay sharp at any size. They are often small already.
• A long transcript or thesis. This is the case that may not fit: our 117-page textbook could not go below 2.56 MB.

If some papers are photos on your phone, put them in a PDF first with JPG to PDF, then resize that PDF. The post Photo to PDF under 100 KB has tips for taking photos that stay clear at small sizes, and they apply to bigger sizes too.

Step by step, from paper to upload

1. Read the notice. Note the format, the limit and whether papers go in separate boxes or one. A range like "50 KB to 2 MB" means: aim for the top.
2. Scan or photograph each paper. On a scanner, 150 to 300 dpi is plenty for text, and grayscale suits black-and-white papers. A higher setting only makes the file bigger and slower to resize. On a phone, use a scanner app, which straightens and crops the page.
3. Put the pages into one PDF per document, in the order the form expects. If the form wants separate files, make one PDF for each.
4. If the form wants A4 pages, change the page size first. Choose Page size, pick A4, add your PDF and download the A4 copy. Then choose File size, pick the limit and add the A4 copy. The limit is checked on the file you upload, so the size step comes last.
5. Pick the limit. Under File size choose 500 KB, 1 MB or 2 MB, or Other and type the number of KB. Any size from 10 KB up works. Don't pick less to be safe: we count 1 KB as 1,000 bytes, so a file under the limit here is under it on every website.
6. Check the result. Open the new file and zoom in on small print. Its name ends in the size you picked, like transcript-A4-1MB.pdf.
7. Upload it, and keep your original scan for forms with other limits.

You can add several PDFs at once. They are resized one after another and each gets its own Download button. If you pick another size afterwards, files that are already finished keep their download, and each one offers a button such as Redo at 200 KB. With two or more finished files, Apply to all redoes them together.

When the document is long

A scan of many pages can fit surprisingly small limits, because every page is a picture and pictures shrink. Our 42-page scan, 47.8 MB, went under 2 MB at Sharp. It took 37 seconds on our test computer, because each try is a full pass over the file, and a phone may take longer.

Text-heavy documents behave differently. Text, fonts and drawings are copied exactly as they are, so a long typed document has a smallest size that no setting can win back. Our 117-page textbook stopped at 2.56 MB. For a file like that:

• Send only the pages the form asks for. Split them out with Split PDF, then resize the shorter file.
• Ask whether a bigger limit or separate uploads are allowed.
• Check whether it is really a typed file. If you can select a word with your finger, it is typed. The post Typed PDF over 200 KB? Why it won't shrink explains the smallest size and a trick for short files.

When the result says Over, you still get the smallest version possible, so you can see how far off you are before deciding.

Five habits that keep pages sharp

• Scan in grayscale for forms, marksheets and letters. With no colour to store, more of the limit goes to sharpness. Keep colour for papers where it matters, such as a coloured stamp.
• Send only the pages asked for. Every page shares the limit.
• Lay the page flat in good light. Shadows and grain take up room the words could use.
• Start from the original. A file that was already squeezed has lost detail for good.
• Check before you upload, and pick a bigger size if the form allows and the result isn't clear enough.

Resize PDF is the right tool when a website gives you a number. When there is no number, for example when you email a file, Compress PDF lets you choose a quality level instead.

Check it the way the reviewer will

• Open the new file and zoom in until a line of text fills the width of the screen.
• Read every number the form depends on: passport number, dates, marks, account numbers.
• Look for the stamps, seals and signatures. They should still be visible, even if softer.
• Count the pages and check they are in order and upright.
• If a page is sideways, turn it with Rotate PDF and resize again.

A digital signature inside a PDF stops being valid when the file is changed, and a PDF that needs a password to open can't be resized as it is: remove the password first with Unlock PDF, which needs the password.

Your passport and certificates stay on your device

Application forms ask for your most private papers. Resize PDF has no upload step and never sends your file anywhere. It runs inside your browser, on your phone or computer, and keeps working with the internet switched off once the page has loaded. The page contacts only this site and Google's ad service, which shows the ads that keep the tools free. Our code never gives your files to the ad code. The privacy policy has the details.