What fits in 300 KB
| Your PDF | Usual outcome at 300 KB |
|---|---|
| Typed document of any normal length | Fits in Stage A or B |
| 3–5 scanned pages in grayscale | Usually fits in Stage B |
| 6–8 scanned pages | Often fits in Stage B at 150 DPI; colour may need Stage C |
| Photographs or colour brochures | May need Stage C |
How DocNimble gets a PDF under 300 KB
The compressor works on your device and stops at the first step that reaches 300 KB:
- Already small enough? If the PDF is already at or under 300 KB, you get the original back untouched. Nothing is recompressed for no reason.
- Stage A — lossless clean-up. Unused objects and inefficient structures are removed. Text, images and layout stay exactly the same.
- Stage B — image recompression. Photos and scans inside the PDF are re-encoded at the highest JPEG quality that fits. The text layer is kept, so words stay selectable and searchable.
- Stage C — page images (only if you allow it). When A and B are not enough, ticking the rasterise option turns each page into an image at a progressively smaller size. This reaches small targets, but the text is no longer selectable, so check readability before you submit.
The tool reports the real size of the downloaded file. It only says “target achieved” when the measured bytes are at or under the limit; otherwise it gives you the smallest result it reached and says so.
Combining several documents into one 300 KB file
When a form wants one file containing several documents, the order of operations matters:
- Put them in the order the form lists them. Name the files 1-, 2-, 3- so the order is obvious, then combine them with Merge PDF.
- Check page orientation before compressing; rotating afterwards rewrites the file again.
- Compress the merged file once, at the end. Compressing each document separately and then merging wastes the budget, because each part is squeezed harder than necessary.
A 300 KB budget across six pages is about 50 KB per page — fine for grayscale text, tight for colour photographs. If one page is a colour photo, consider whether a grayscale copy is acceptable for that document.
If it will not fit
- Drop duplicate or optional pages with Remove PDF pages.
- Re-scan colour pages in grayscale at 150–200 DPI.
- As a last step, tick the page-image option. Read every page afterwards, because small print suffers first.
Check before you upload
- Count the pages and compare against the documents the form asked for.
- Zoom to 100% on the page with the smallest text.
- Keep the separate originals; you may be asked for them later.
Questions about this workflow
Should I merge first or compress first?
Merge first, then compress the combined file once. Compressing each part and merging afterwards usually ends up larger or lower quality.
How many scanned pages fit in 300 KB?
Typically three to eight grayscale pages scanned at 150–200 DPI, keeping text selectable. Colour scans fit fewer.
Will the merged PDF keep my page order?
Yes. Merge PDF keeps the order you choose, and compression never reorders pages.
Is it free?
Yes, with no sign-up or watermark, and the file is processed in your browser.