What fits in 100 KB
100 KB is a comfortable size. It holds a sharp on-screen photo, a clean scan of a handwritten page, or a stacked signature, which is why forms use it for documents that need more detail than a 20 KB signature but less than a full scan. Limits we checked in official notices:
| Who asks | What | File size | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPSC (India) exams | Signature (three signatures, one below the other) | 20–100 KB, JPG | 350–500 pixels |
| IBPS (India) bank exams | Handwritten declaration | 50–100 KB | 800 × 400 px at 200 DPI (about 10 × 5 cm) |
Sources: UPSC’s instructions for uploading the photo and signature on upsconline (copy checked in July 2026), and IBPS scanning guidelines published with each notice on ibps.in. Many university admission, scholarship and job portals also use a 100 KB limit for photos and certificates.
How the 100 KB target is reached
This page runs the Compress Image to KB engine with the limit fixed at 100 KB (100,000 bytes, which also passes portals that count 102,400). It tries a high quality first, then searches down the quality scale, measuring the real file each time until it is as close to the limit as possible without going over. If quality alone cannot get there, it reduces the pixel size slightly.
From our engine tests: a 1920 × 1200 photo of 420 KB came out at 97.2 KB, quality 76, with its pixel size unchanged. Quality 76 is hard to tell from the original on a laptop or phone screen.
Scanned documents and declarations
Handwriting and printed text compress very well as JPG because most of the page is plain paper. To get a clean, readable file well under 100 KB:
- Write in black or dark blue ink on white unlined paper. For an IBPS declaration, write the text exactly as given in the notice, in running handwriting (capital letters are not accepted).
- Photograph or scan it straight on, in good light, with no shadow across the page.
- Crop away the margins with Crop Image. For an IBPS declaration, crop to a 2 : 1 shape and enter 800 × 400 as max width and height here.
- Compress here and check the size: it should land just under 100 KB, comfortably above a 50 KB minimum.
If your result is below a minimum (for example under 50 KB for the declaration), use a larger crop or leave the pixel limits empty so the tool keeps more detail.
UPSC triple signature
UPSC asks for your signature three times, one below the other, on plain white paper in black ink, scanned as one JPG between 20 and 100 KB and 350–500 pixels in size. Sign three times with clear gaps, crop close, and enter 500 as max width and height here. The UPSC Photo Resizer does the same with the size rules built in, and also prepares the photograph.
When you need a PDF instead
Some portals want certificates as a PDF under 100 KB. Compress the scan here first, then put it into a PDF with JPG to PDF. A PDF containing one 95 KB image is only a few KB larger than the image itself. If you already have a large PDF, use Compress PDF.
Tips
- Need the exact pixel size? Untick Allow smaller dimensions. The tool then only lowers quality and tells you if 100 KB is impossible at that size.
- Several documents? Drop them all at once and download a ZIP; every file is checked against the same limit.
- Photo with a 50 KB limit on the same form? Use Compress Image to 50 KB for that one.
- Privacy: certificates and signatures are processed in your browser and never uploaded.