Compress an image to 1 MB

Photos from a current phone weigh 3 to 8 MB each, so “maximum 1 MB” is the limit most people hit when attaching a photo to a form or an email. This is the compressor with 1000 KB already typed in: pick the photos and download them under the limit.

How to use it

  1. Tap “Choose photos” and select the photos or scans.
  2. Leave 1000 in “Max file size (KB)”: that is 1 MB.
  3. Download the photos and attach or upload them.

1 MB = 1000 KB here, on purpose

Some systems count 1 MB as 1,048,576 bytes and others as 1,000,000. We use the smaller figure, so a file saved here is 1,000,000 bytes or less and passes a form that counts either way. If a form displays its limit as 1024 KB you can type that instead, but the default is the safe choice.

Quality at 1 MB

A megabyte is generous: a full-resolution phone photo normally fits with its original width and height and a quality that is indistinguishable from the original on a screen. That makes it a good size to send a photo as a WhatsApp document, where it isn’t recompressed, or to keep an archive copy five times lighter than the original.

Questions and answers

Why does WhatsApp still shrink my photo?

Sending it as a photo always recompresses it. Send it as a document instead (attachment menu, then “Document”) and the file you made here arrives untouched.

The form wants a PDF under 1 MB.

Compress the photos here first, then combine them with JPG to PDF: smaller images make a smaller PDF.

What if I need 500 KB or a custom size?

Change the number in “Max file size (KB)”, or open compress to 500 KB. For a quality slider instead of a size limit, use compress image.

Are my photos uploaded to a server?

No. Everything is processed inside your browser, on your own phone or computer. Your photos never leave your device and nobody else can see them.

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