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PDFHive

Compress image to 20KB

Exam, job and government application forms often ask for a signature or a small photo under 20 KB. This free image compressor reduces your image to fit at the best quality possible and shows the final size before you download.

Your files are processed in your browser and never leave your device.

How to use Compress image to 20KB

  1. Select your photo or signature. The limit is already set to 20 KB.
  2. Click "Compress image" and check the preview and size.
  3. Download the JPG and upload it to the form.
  4. If the photo looks blurry, crop it to just the face or signature and compress again.

How to compress a signature to under 20 KB

Sign in dark ink on plain white paper, photograph it flat in good light, and crop the photo close around the signature. Less empty paper means more of the 20 KB goes on the signature itself.

In our tests, a signature photo came to 20 KB at about 1,200 × 400 pixels, crisp and clear. A full phone photo fits 20 KB at about 320 × 240 pixels, which is the usual size for small ID photos on forms.

What if your photo won't look clear at 20 KB?

20 KB is very little space, so every pixel counts. These steps help most.

  1. Crop to the essentials first with Crop image: for an ID photo, your head and shoulders; for a signature, just the ink.
  2. For a signature, use the Signature resizer instead: it whitens the paper and crops to the ink, which compresses much better than a grey photo of paper.
  3. If the form gives a pixel size, such as 200 × 230, set it with Resize image together with the 20 KB limit.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my photo look blurry at 20 KB?

20 KB only has room for a small picture, so a whole phone photo becomes about 320 pixels wide. Crop the photo to just your face or your signature before compressing, and the same 20 KB will show it much more clearly.

Can I compress a signature to 20 KB?

Yes, and signatures compress very well because they are mostly plain paper. Crop it closely first. A cropped signature usually fits 20 KB at a large, sharp size.

Will a form that counts 20 KB as 20,480 bytes accept my file?

Yes. PDFHive aims for 20,000 bytes, the smaller way of counting, so the file is under the limit whichever way the form measures it.

My form also gives a size in pixels. What should I do?

Check the pixel size shown under the preview. If the form asks for a specific width and height, crop or resize the image to those numbers first, then compress it to 20 KB here.

Can I do this on my phone?

Yes. Take or pick the photo from your gallery, compress it here in your phone's browser, and upload the downloaded JPG straight away.

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