Drop the PDF and press the button. The tool works in three stages, cheapest first, and stops at the first one that gets the file under 700 KB.
Images are recompressed in place first, so text, links and forms stay exactly as they were. Only when a file still will not fit are the pages rebuilt as images, and even then an invisible text layer keeps the words searchable. A file already under the cap is handed back untouched.
700 KB is a comfortable size. A long text document clears it at the first attempt with nothing visibly changed, and a short greyscale scan clears it too. The files that struggle are colour scans of more than three pages, and for those the useful question is not how hard to compress but whether the 700 KB is really a per-file limit at all.
Where the 700 KB limit comes from
- Shared budgets split across a document set2 MB over 3 files
- Forms that state the limit in megabytes0.7 MB per upload
- Legacy systems with a row-size ceiling700 to 800 KB
- Tender and procurement attachment slots500 KB to 1 MB
- Membership and licensing renewals700 KB per document
Round numbers are decisions. Odd ones are arithmetic. A cap of 700 KB is nearly always the remainder of something else: a two megabyte envelope divided three ways, a one megabyte allowance with headroom subtracted for the form data around it, or a field that reads 0.7 MB because somebody wanted a number between a half and one. None of those is a judgement about how a document should look, which is why there is usually more room than the figure suggests.
How the tool hits 700 KB
Add the PDF
Drop it or browse. It is read into browser memory; nothing is uploaded, so a slow connection makes no difference.
Stages one and two: tidy, then the images
Unused objects, thumbnails and stale metadata go first, which costs nothing at all. Then the pictures inside the file are recompressed in place, starting at 200 ppi, while your text, links and form fields are left exactly as they were.
Stage three, only when it is needed
If the images were not where the weight was, the pages are rebuilt as pictures with an invisible text layer behind them, so the words stay searchable. It probes at 150 dpi, works out the resolution that should fit, and will not go below 60 dpi.
Download, and read the result line
It shows the final size and which stage produced it. If none fitted, you still get the smallest attempt, labelled honestly, rather than a file that silently missed the target.
Structure, then the images in place, then the pages as pictures. It stops at the first stage that fits.
Untouched at the first two stages. If the pages do get rebuilt, an invisible text layer keeps them searchable.
The IDs, forms and statements people compress for portals never leave the device.
What fits in 700 KB, and what does not
At 700 KB the first attempt succeeds more often than not. Text is cheap, at roughly forty kilobytes a page. Greyscale scans cost about a hundred and thirty a page, so five pages fit. Colour scans cost nearer a quarter of a megabyte each, and that is where the budget runs out.
When it cannot reach 700 KB
Some documents will not fit legibly, and the tool says so rather than pretending. When the result line reports a miss, three moves usually solve it:
- Split first. Use Split PDF to break the file into parts and compress each. Most portals accept several attachments even when each one is capped at 700 KB.
- Rescan the source. A fresh 150 dpi greyscale scan compresses far better than a colour scan that has already been through one compressor. Every pass costs quality, and the first pass should start from the cleanest source.
- Check the real limit. Portals sometimes state one number and accept another. Read the fine print, or try a slightly larger file before compressing harder than you need to.
Odd limits are somebody else's arithmetic
When a cap is a share of a total, the per-file number is a suggestion and the total is the rule. That distinction is worth ten minutes of reading the form before you spend an hour compressing. A portal that allows four documents inside a two megabyte envelope has told you 700 KB in the help text and 2 MB in the validator, and those are very different constraints to work against.
So the first move at an odd cap is to find the total. It is usually one line further down the same help page, or in the error the portal returns when the set as a whole is too big. If there is a total and the per-file number is only guidance, compress the pages that cost nothing to compress and leave the scan alone. A covering letter exported from a word processor weighs forty kilobytes whatever you do to it; the identity document is where legibility is at stake and where the spare bytes should go.
If the 700 KB is genuinely per file, it is at least a loose one. Almost everything except a multi-page colour scan lands at the first or second attempt, and the common mistake here is over-compressing. Once the result line says the file is under the cap, stop. Running it again through a tighter setting does not make the upload more likely to succeed; it only makes the document harder to read at the other end.
Where people use the 700 KB target
- Document sets inside a shared allowance3 to 4 files
- Tender submission attachments5 to 12 pages, fits
- Professional licence renewals2 to 3 pages, fits in colour
- Course and training registrations1 to 2 pages, fits
Why this runs in your browser
A 700 KB cap usually appears in the middle of a document set, which means the file in front of you is one of several pieces of identification. Sending each of them through an upload-and-download compression service multiplies the number of copies in circulation for no gain at all.
The tool is right above
Everything on this page runs in your browser. Scroll up, drop the file, and keep it on your machine.
Common questions
The questions people have when a form asks for 700 KB.
01Why would a portal pick 700 KB?
It is usually a division rather than a decision: a total budget split across a set of documents, or a field written as 0.7 MB. Check whether a total is stated as well.
02What fits in 700 KB?
A dozen pages of text, a four-page report with charts, or a five-page greyscale scan. A colour scan of more than three pages needs several rungs of the ladder.
03Should I compress every file in the set?
Only the ones that are over. If a total applies, spend the spare bytes on the document whose legibility matters, usually the identity page.
04My file is already under 700 KB. Do I need this?
No. The tool hands a file that already fits straight back untouched. Send it as it is.
05Is it worth compressing further than the cap?
No. Once the result line reports a fit, stop. Extra compression costs legibility and does nothing for the upload.
06Will the text still be selectable?
At this size, almost always. Most files reach 700 KB in the first two stages, which leave text completely untouched.
07Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. Rendering and compression run in your browser. The file never leaves the device.
08Is it free?
Free. Every tool, unlimited use, no signup.