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How to compress a photo to 20 KB, 50 KB or 100 KB without it turning blurry

By the Fusion Office team · Updated

Quick answer

Open Compress image, choose File size, type the limit (for example 50) and press Compress. The tool lowers quality and, if it must, the dimensions until the photo fits. For very small targets like 20 KB, crop and resize first so it doesn't have to throw away so much detail.

Compress to an exact size

  1. 1Open Compress image and choose the photo (or several).
  2. 2Choose File size and enter the limit: 20, 50 or 100 KB.
  3. 3Keep the format as JPG for photos.
  4. 4Press Compress and check the new size shown under each file.

Why small targets look blurry, and how to avoid it

A 12-megapixel phone photo is about 4000 pixels wide. Squeezing all those pixels into 20 KB forces very heavy compression, which shows as blocks and smudges. The same photo resized to 400 pixels wide fits in 20 KB at good quality, and still looks sharp at the size a form displays it.

  • Crop away background first with Crop image: fewer pixels, less to compress.
  • Resize to the dimensions the form asks for with Resize image, or to 400–600 pixels wide if it doesn't say.
  • Then compress to the KB limit.

Format matters

  • JPG is the right choice for photos and signatures on forms.
  • PNG photos are large; convert them to JPG with Convert image.
  • WEBP is smaller still, but many government and exam forms don't accept it.

For more on dimensions versus file size, see How to reduce image file size.

Frequently asked questions

Can I compress a photo to exactly 50 KB?

The tool gets as close as it can below your limit, typically just under it. That satisfies a “maximum 50 KB” rule.

The form also has a minimum. What if my file goes too small?

Use a slightly higher limit, or resize to larger dimensions, so the result lands inside the range.