Question 1

Is my PDF uploaded to a server?

Accepted Answer

No. Every page is rendered and re-encoded locally in your browser tab using WebAssembly and the Canvas API — the file never leaves your device, and nothing is logged.

Question 2

How do I get a PDF under 100KB or 200KB for an exam portal?

Accepted Answer

Choose the "Smallest size" preset. It renders each page at a modest resolution and a lower JPEG quality, which produces the largest size reduction — usually enough for UPSC, SSC, GATE, and university upload limits. If it is still too large, the original scan resolution may simply be too high; try scanning at a lower DPI to start with.

Question 3

Why does compressing make my text no longer selectable?

Accepted Answer

This tool compresses by converting each page into a JPEG image and rebuilding the PDF from those images — the same approach most browser-based PDF compressors use. It gives a large, predictable size reduction, but the trade-off is that any text becomes part of an image rather than staying selectable. For scanned documents (marksheets, ID proofs, certificates) this has no practical downside, since the original was already an image.

Question 4

Will compressing reduce image quality?

Accepted Answer

Yes, by design — that is what makes the file smaller. The "Balanced" preset is a reasonable default for most documents; "Best quality" keeps things sharper at the cost of a larger file; "Smallest size" prioritizes hitting strict size caps over visual quality.

Portal	Document	Max size
UPSC / SSC Recruitment	Category certificate & ID proof	Under 300 KB
GATE / NTA exam portals	Marksheets & category certificate	Under 500 KB
University admission portals	Consolidated semester marksheets	Under 1–2 MB

Compress PDF — Reduce File Size Online

Common Indian exam and job portal limits

Common questions