Compress a PDF for a job application upload
Online job portals usually cap each attachment, commonly at 2 MB or 5 MB, and reject anything larger without much explanation. Scanned certificates and CVs with photos are the usual culprits: one scanned page at high resolution can easily be several megabytes.
Compressing the PDF reduces the size of the images inside it while keeping the document in the same order and format, so recruiters still receive a normal PDF. Compression runs inside your browser, so your CV and personal documents are not uploaded anywhere.
Step by step
- Open Compress PDF and add the file you want to upload.
- Start with a medium image quality. Lower the resolution (DPI) only if the file is still above the portal's limit.
- Compress, then check the new size shown next to the result.
- Open the downloaded PDF and zoom in on the smallest text to make sure it is still easy to read.
- Upload the compressed file to the job portal.
Tips
- If the portal accepts one file only, merge your CV and certificates first, then compress the combined PDF.
- Text-only CVs exported from Word are usually already small; scans and photos benefit most from compression.
- Keep the original file. Compress a fresh copy each time rather than compressing an already compressed file repeatedly.
Questions
- Will recruiters notice the file was compressed?
- Normally not. The text and layout stay the same; only embedded images become lighter, which matters mostly for scanned pages.
- What if the file is still too big?
- Lower the resolution setting and compress again, or remove pages the employer did not ask for with Delete PDF pages.
- Is my CV uploaded to Convertora?
- No. PDF compression runs in your browser, so the document stays on your device.
Related tools
Full guide: How to compress a PDF without losing quality