Optimize identity cards, degree certificates, and category proofs to exact UPSC 20KB–300KB portal standards.
To compress a PDF for UPSC: 1. Drag & drop your PDF certificate or Photo ID. 2. Select 'Exact Target Size' and enter 250 KB (safely within the 20KB–300KB range). 3. Toggle 'Convert to Black & White' if your file contains scanned color grain. 4. Click 'Compress PDF' and download your document ready for upsconline.nic.in.
| Document Type | Mandatory Size | Format | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo ID Card (Aadhaar / Passport / Voter ID / PAN) | 20 KB – 300 KB | PDF only | Must be readable, unlocked (no password), and match OTR details |
| Age & Matriculation Certificate | 20 KB – 300 KB | PDF only | 10th standard certificate showing full name and date of birth |
| Graduation Degree / Transcript | 20 KB – 300 KB | PDF only | Must clearly display university seal and registrar signature |
| Community / EWS / OBC-NCL Certificate | 20 KB – 300 KB | PDF only | Issued by designated revenue authority for the active financial year |
| PwBD Disability Certificate | 20 KB – 300 KB | PDF only | Permanent disability certificate issued by medical board |
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts India's premier civil services and defense examinations (CSE, NDA, CDS, CMS, IES) through its centralized portal at upsconline.nic.in (Last Verified: October 2026 for 2026–2027 Cycles). Candidates must complete One-Time Registration (OTR) and upload government-issued photo identity cards and educational certificates.
UPSC rules strictly state: 'The document must be in PDF format only and the size should be between 20 KB and 300 KB.' Uploading a file of 301KB or 19KB produces a validation failure that halts the application. PDFBolt's target size engine optimizes your document to sit reliably in the 150KB–260KB sweet spot.
A frequent cause of UPSC OTR rejection is uploading an official e-Aadhaar PDF that contains an embedded password. The UPSC document ingest server cannot prompt for candidate passwords and will immediately reject the upload as an unreadable or corrupt file.
Before compressing your e-Aadhaar, unlock the file using PDFBolt's 'Unlock PDF' tool to strip the password securely inside your browser. Once unlocked, set target compression to 250 KB so your photo and UIDAI QR code remain sharp and machine-verifiable.
Graduation transcripts or combined caste validity certificates can span 3 to 6 pages, frequently exceeding the 300KB limit when scanned together. If individual page resolution is dropped indiscriminately, marks and subject codes become unreadable.
PDFBolt optimizes multi-page documents by applying web-standard 150 DPI resolution downsampling and removing redundant embedded font subsets. If your multi-page document still nears 300KB, toggle 'Convert to Black & White' to strip scanner background tints and effortlessly reduce file size by another 60%.
The UPSC portal will immediately reject the file with an error stating 'File size must be between 20 KB and 300 KB'. Use PDFBolt's Exact Target Size mode and set 250 KB to guarantee it passes the portal check.
No. UPSC servers cannot open password-protected PDFs. You must remove the password first using PDFBolt's Unlock PDF tool, then compress it to under 300KB before uploading.
Set target size to 280 KB. PDFBolt maintains vector text rendering while compressing background image scans to 150 DPI. If needed, enable 'Convert to Black & White' to remove color background noise.
Yes. Official notifications confirm that clear black-and-white scanned certificates are completely acceptable provided all text, official seals, and signatures are legible.
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