How to get an image under 500 KB

How the tool gets an image under 500 KB

The Make My File Fit Image tool has two ways to make a copy smaller, and it uses them in a set order:

1. For a JPG or WebP, it lowers the quality, down to about 65%.
2. If the copy is still too big, it makes the picture smaller in pixels, keeping the same proportions. It never goes below 640 px on the longest side.
3. Only at that smallest size does it lower the quality further.

It keeps the largest pixel size that fits under your limit, measures the real file, and only calls it a fit when it is under 500 KB.

What happened at 500 KB in our tests

We tested two JPG photos in two browser engines, Chromium and WebKit, on a computer: a 12-megapixel photo we generated for testing (4000 × 3000 pixels, 3,422,855 bytes), and a real street photo (3840 × 2880 pixels, 1,446,573 bytes).

With the default settings, both fitted, and both were resized, at 65% quality:

• The 12-megapixel photo came out between 3303 × 2477 and 3488 × 2616 pixels.
• The street photo came out between 2995 × 2246 and 3069 × 2302 pixels.

The two browsers gave slightly different pixel sizes for the same photo, because they resize pictures in slightly different ways.

With “Keep original dimensions” turned on, the results split:

• The 12-megapixel photo fitted at its full 4000 × 3000 pixels: 484,705 bytes, at about 47% quality.
• The street photo did not fit. The tool lowered the quality as far as it goes, to 45%, and the smallest copy was 535,915 bytes, still over 500 KB. The tool showed it as “Closest we could get”, not as a fit.

Note: That is what happened with these two photos. Other images can come out differently: another photo may need more resizing, or may not fit with “Keep original dimensions” at all.

Fewer pixels or lower quality?

At 500 KB you may have a real choice, as the 12-megapixel photo shows. The default gives you a copy with fewer pixels at 65% quality. “Keep original dimensions” keeps every pixel but lowers the quality further, and it may not reach the limit.

• Keep the default if the form doesn’t ask for a pixel size. The whole picture stays, just at a smaller width and height.
• Try “Keep original dimensions” if the form asks for a pixel size your photo already has. You’ll find it in More options, under Image dimensions.

Whichever you choose, use Compare closely on the result to look at the same spot in your original and the copy, then decide for yourself.

If it won’t fit

• “Closest we could get” with “Keep original dimensions”. Choose the “Allow resizing, keep JPG” change (the card names your file’s type). The tool then makes the picture smaller in pixels only as far as needed.
• It’s a PNG. The tool has no quality setting for PNG, so a PNG only gets smaller in pixels. If the form takes JPG, Convert to JPG adds a quality setting to lower. JPG has no transparency, so transparent areas become white, and the tool only does that when you choose JPG.
• The form takes WebP. Convert to WebP is offered only when your browser can save WebP files.
• The form allows more. If it actually says 1 MB or 2 MB, pick that limit instead.

You can still download the closest copy, but the tool warns that it is over your limit, and a form with a 500 KB limit will probably refuse it.

Before you upload

Open the copy and check faces, text and any details the form needs to see. Then check the size and the width and height on the result screen against the form’s rules.

If the form still says the file is too big, see “File too large” when uploading. For how KB and MB are counted, see KB and MB.