Resize an image to 100 KB
A hundred kilobytes is the first limit generous enough for a document. Below it, a scan of a certificate or an ID card loses the fine detail that makes small print readable. At 100 KB a single page can stay legible, provided you keep the pixel dimensions up and let the quality setting take the hit instead. That is the opposite of the advice that works for face photos.
No images yet. Add a photo and set the size you need.
Documents and faces need opposite treatment
For a face, detail can go and the picture still reads as the right person. For printed text, detail is the whole point: letters are thin dark shapes, and once they blur into the paper the page is worthless. So when you resize a document, keep the width generous — around a thousand pixels or more for a single page — and allow the compression to be heavier. Shrinking the dimensions is what destroys text.
For a photograph at 100 KB you have the opposite freedom. There is enough room that cropping is optional and the result will look clean at normal viewing size.
Getting a readable scan
- Photograph the page flat, from directly above, filling the frame.
- Use even light and avoid your own shadow falling across the page.
- Keep the page straight. Skewed text is harder to read and harder to compress.
- Check the smallest print on screen at full size before you upload.
Multi-page documents
If the requirement is 100 KB for an entire multi-page document, resizing images one by one will not get you there. Make the pages into a PDF first and keep the file-size setting low, so the compression is applied across the whole document rather than per page.
Steps
- Choose your photo or page scan.
- The limit here is already 100 KB.
- For a document, check the smallest text is still readable at full size.
- Press Download.
Questions
My scanned certificate is blurry. What should I change?
Keep the pixel dimensions large and let the quality drop instead. Text needs pixels more than it needs quality, so shrinking the image is what makes print unreadable.
Is 100 KB enough for a multi-page document?
Not page by page. Combine the pages into one PDF with a low file-size setting, so the budget is shared across the whole document.
Do I need to crop a photograph at this size?
No. At 100 KB there is enough room for a normal head-and-shoulders photo to look clean without cropping tighter.