Compress Image to 20 KB
Exam and recruitment portals in India often reject anything above 20 KB for a signature, and some want the photo that small too. Set the target, drop in the scan, and get a JPG that lands at or just under 20 KB.
Compress Image
or drop JPG, JPEG, JFIF … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Never shrink below this width when downscaling. 0 means no minimum.
Optionally set the dimensions before compressing. Forms that specify pixels as well as KB need both.
Pixels for the side you chose above.
The search for the target size will not go below this quality; it downscales instead.
4:2:0 halves color resolution and saves a lot on photos; 4:4:4 keeps sharp edges on text, logos and screenshots.
Lossy PNG quantises colors (like TinyPNG) and is far smaller; lossless keeps every pixel.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the photo or signature
Phone photos, scans and screenshots in JPG, PNG, HEIC or WebP all work. Up to 20 files at once, 95 MB each.
- 2
Confirm 20 KB and JPG
Target size is preset to 20 KB and Output format to JPG, the format exam portals ask for. If the form also gives pixel dimensions, set them under Resize first in Advanced settings.
- 3
Compress and check
Press Compress to JPG. The size of each result is shown before you download, so you can confirm it is under the limit before uploading.
How do I get an image down to 20 KB?
Upload it, keep the 20 KB target and JPG output, and press Compress to JPG. The tool lowers quality step by step and, only if that is not enough, reduces the pixel size until the file fits.
Which forms ask for a 20 KB image
| Organisation | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SSC (Staff Selection Commission) | Signature 10–20 KB, photograph 20–50 KB, JPEG | ssc.gov.in |
| IBPS (bank recruitment exams) | Signature 10–20 KB at 140 × 60 px, photograph 20–50 KB at 200 × 230 px, JPG | ibps.in |
| Many state and university portals | Commonly a 20 KB ceiling for signatures, sometimes for photos too | — |
Twenty kilobytes is very little. A typical photo straight from a phone camera is 2–5 MB, more than a hundred times larger. Portals set the limit low because they store and display images for hundreds of thousands of applicants, and a signature or a small ID photo genuinely does not need more.
Quality alone rarely gets there. The tool first searches for the highest JPG quality that fits, stopping at the Lowest quality allowed (40 by default), then reduces dimensions step by step if needed. You can set a Minimum width so it never shrinks below what the portal requires. Metadata such as GPS location and camera model is stripped by default, which alone can free several kilobytes. The guide to reducing image size in KB explains the trade-offs in more detail.
Image sizes that fit in 20 KB
| Size | Pixels | cm | in | DPI | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 140×60 | 140 × 60 | 1.78 × 0.76 | 0.70 × 0.30 | 200 | IBPS signature; fits 20 KB at high quality |
| 200×230 | 200 × 230 | 2.54 × 2.92 | 1.00 × 1.15 | 200 | IBPS photo; usually fits 20 KB without downscaling |
| 3.5×4.5 | 413 × 531 | 3.5 × 4.5 | 1.38 × 1.77 | 300 | Passport-style photo; often needs quality below 70 |
| 2×2 | 600 × 600 | 5.08 × 5.08 | 2.00 × 2.00 | 300 | Tight at 20 KB; downscaling usually kicks in |
Image resizer to 20 KB: common mix-ups
MythChanging the DPI to 72 makes the file smaller.
FactDPI is only a printing hint stored in the file. The size in KB depends on the pixel dimensions and JPG quality, not the DPI number.
Myth20 KB means the same number of bytes on every portal.
FactSome systems count 1 KB as 1,000 bytes, others as 1,024. A file of 19.5 KB on your computer passes both checks, so leave a small margin.
MythPNG keeps more detail, so it is safer.
FactA photo saved as PNG at portal dimensions is usually several times larger than the JPG, and most notices accept only JPG or JPEG anyway.
20 KB image questions
How do I reduce a signature to under 20 KB?
Sign in dark ink on plain white paper, photograph or scan it, crop tightly around the signature, then compress it here at the 20 KB target. A cropped signature is small in pixels, so it usually reaches 20 KB at high quality without any downscaling.
The portal says 10–20 KB. What if my file comes out below 10 KB?
That can happen with a very small, mostly white signature. Raise the target to 18 KB and turn off Allow downscaling so the image keeps its size; if it is still too small, scan at a higher resolution. For files that must grow, increase image size adds bytes without changing the picture.
Why was my 19 KB photo still rejected?
Some portals also check pixel dimensions, file type or even the file name. Read the notice for exact width and height, make sure the file ends in .jpg, and use Resize first to match the dimensions before compressing.
Will a 20 KB photo look blurry?
At the sizes exam portals request, around 200 × 230 px, a 20 KB JPG looks clean. Problems start when a full-resolution phone photo is squeezed to 20 KB without resizing, because the encoder has to throw away detail across millions of pixels. Resizing first gives a sharper result.
Can I do the photo at 50 KB and the signature at 20 KB?
Yes, run them separately. Use compress image to 50 KB for the photograph and this page for the signature, or change Target size between batches.
Is the JPG accepted by SSC and IBPS forms?
Both have asked for JPG or JPEG uploads in their notices, and the output here is a standard baseline-compatible JPG. Requirements change between recruitment cycles, so check the dimensions and KB range in the notice you are applying under.