Resize photo to 20 KB.

Resize a photo or signature to 20 KB

A 20 KB limit is very small. It appears mostly on recruitment and exam forms that ask for a scanned signature, a thumb impression, or a tiny passport-style photo. This page opens Photo to KB already set to 20 KB, so you can add your picture and press Make it smaller.

The tool first lowers the JPG quality. Only if that isn't enough does it make the picture smaller in pixels. It stops a little under 20 KB, because some sites count 20 KB as 20,000 bytes and others as 20,480.

Signature to 20 KB: get it right first time

Most 20 KB uploads are signatures. A signature is simple, so it shrinks well, as long as the photo is clean.

• Sign with a dark blue or black pen on plain white paper.
• Take the photo in daylight, from straight above, with no shadow.
• Crop tightly around the signature before you resize it. Empty paper wastes kilobytes.
• Check the result: the lines should be clear and not broken.

If the form asks for a signature of a certain pixel size, such as a wide, short strip, crop to that shape first. Then use the Also limit the picture to box if the form gives a maximum width.

A 20 KB passport photo

Some forms ask for a face photo of only 20 KB. At this size the tool will often have to reduce the pixel count as well as the quality. A head-and-shoulders photo around a few hundred pixels wide still looks fine on a form.

Crop to the face and shoulders before resizing, so the kilobytes go to your face and not the background. A plain light background also takes fewer kilobytes than a busy room.

Check your own form's rules

Every portal sets its own limits, and they change. Read the instructions on your form for the file size, the pixel size, the file type and whether it wants a photo or a signature. Some forms also give a minimum size, such as at least 10 KB. If yours does, choose Another size and type a number inside the range.

The tool saves a JPG file, the type almost every form accepts. The new file name shows its size, for example photo-19kb.jpg.

If the photo can't get under 20 KB

Very rarely, a picture is so detailed that it can't reach 20 KB and still look like a photo. The tool then tells you, instead of giving you an unusable file. This usually happens with a large photo full of fine texture, such as a patterned shirt or a busy background. Crop the photo tighter, so only the face or the signature is left, and try again. Taking a new photo against a plain wall also helps a lot. For signatures, a scan or photo with pure white paper around the ink shrinks far better than one with grey shadows. Once the file is ready, upload it straight away and check that the form shows a preview of it. Keep the original photo as well. If another form later asks for 50 KB or 100 KB, start again from the original, not from the 20 KB copy, so it stays as sharp as possible.