pdfpix

Compress PDF to 150 KB

or drop one here
Compression level
Target size
Choose a PDF file first.

150 KB is 153,600 bytes. It holds 10 text pages, 4 pages with pictures, 5 scanned pages, 8 phone photos of pages or 5 pages scanned in colour. That is room for a full application packet: a form, a letter and a scanned ID. The file stays in this tab, and the result shows its exact size.

How to compress a PDF to 150 KB

  1. Choose the PDF

    Press Choose a PDF, or drop the file on the page. The file is read in this tab and is not sent anywhere.

  2. The target is already set

    This page opens at 150 KB, so there is nothing to type. Pick a different level, or enter your own smaller number in KB, if you want another size.

  3. Press Compress

    Four methods race: copy the pages into a fresh file, re-encode the placed images, cut each embedded font down to the glyphs the pages draw, and, only when no other method reached the target, redraw the pages as images with the text kept on top.

  4. Read the check, then download

    Every candidate is opened again and its characters are counted against the source. The page shows the size, the method that won and the characters kept before it offers the download.

The four methods are described in full, with the measurements behind them, in how it works.

What fits in 150 KB

Text is the lightest page. A compressed text page weighed about 14 KB in the public run, so 150 KB holds 10 of them. A 14 page US government publication went from 216 KB to 142 KB by rebuilding the file without its dead objects.

DocumentPages at the default settingPages at the smallest setting
Text documentsPages at the default setting10Pages at the smallest setting10
Text with picturesPages at the default setting3Pages at the smallest setting4
Scanned pagesPages at the default setting5Pages at the smallest setting5
Phone photosPages at the default setting2Pages at the smallest setting8
Colour scansPages at the default setting1Pages at the smallest setting5

On the public files above 150 KB, the default methods cut the median file by 49.4%.

What to drop first when 150 KB is close

Read the result before you change anything. If the structural rebuild or font subsetting won, the next saving is pages. If a picture method won, the pictures are the weight, and the stronger pass takes them further.

Pages are the cheapest cut. A cover sheet, a blank back page from a duplex scan, or an instruction page can be a large part of the file. Delete them, then compress what is left.

When to use the stronger pass

Use it for a short file with photos or grey pages. It takes a page with pictures to about 37 KB and a phone photo to about 18 KB, so 150 KB holds 8 photos. Look at the result at normal zoom before you send it.

If the form accepts more, 200 KB is one step up. The tool is free with no cap on runs, so you can try both.

Questions

How many bytes is a 150 KB upload limit?
153,600 bytes, at 1,024 bytes to the kilobyte, which is how this tool counts. A form that counts in thousands stops at 150,000. Set the target to 146 KB if a file under 150 KB was refused.
Why does a Word export shrink further than a scan?
A Word export is mostly fonts and text, and font subsetting removes most of a font without changing a letter. A scan is pictures, so the tool redraws it at a lower resolution. Both fit 150 KB: 10 text pages or 5 scanned pages.
Is this pdf size reducer for 150kb free to use online?
Yes, it is free, with no account needed. The page loads from the web, but the compression runs in this tab and the file is never uploaded.
My file stopped at 170 KB against 150 KB. What now?
Remove a page the form does not need and run it again, or accept the stronger pass, which tries 120 dpi first and goes lower only if it must.

Related tools

Each runs in a browser tab like this one, reads its own output back before the download, and needs no account. The footer links every tool.

Where to go next