A practical guide to common upload size limits and the fastest way to prepare scanned PDFs for government portals.
SSC and Railway portals often enforce strict upload limits for scanned documents. The limits can vary by notification, but the most common targets applicants search for are 100KB, 50KB, 20KB, and sometimes 200KB for broader uploads. If your PDF is rejected, the cause is usually file size, unreadable scans, or uploading the document in the wrong field.
Start with a practical target that keeps text readable. For many scanned documents, compress PDF to 100KB is the safest first attempt. If the portal explicitly requires a smaller file, move down to compress PDF to 50KB or compress PDF to 20KB and confirm that names, dates, and stamps are still legible.
If the portal allows more room (for example, multiple pages or a clearer scan is needed), use compress PDF to 200KB to preserve readability while staying within a typical cap.
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Best for scanned PDFs
If you want a portal-specific starting point, use compress PDF for SSC form or compress PDF for Railway form.
If you are aiming for a “percent” style reduction, start with compress PDF by percent and pick a target based on your upload rule.
Use compress PDF to 20KB for strict limits, then confirm readability. If the scan becomes unclear, move up to compress PDF to 50KB and re-check the portal instruction.
Start with compress PDF for Railway form and aim for 100KB when possible. Only go lower if the portal demands it.
Some PDFs are already optimized, or the scan has too much noise. Try a cleaner scan, then use compress PDF to 100KB before targeting extreme limits like 20KB.