Make your file smaller

1. Open the PDF in Preview (double-click it).
2. Choose File → Export…
3. Set Quartz Filter to Reduce File Size, then click Save with a new name.
4. Open the new file and zoom in. If the text has become blurry, use “A scan or photo” below instead.

1. Open the original Word document (not the PDF).
2. Choose File → Save As and pick PDF as the file type.
3. Select Minimum size (publishing online), then Save.

Scanned PDFs are large because they are photos of pages. The simplest fix is to scan again with lighter settings:

1. Open the Windows Scan app (or your scanner’s own app).
2. Set Resolution to 150–200 DPI (not 300 or 600).
3. Set Colour mode to Greyscale for transcripts and letters. Keep Colour for your passport or ID.
4. Save as PDF and check that every word is still readable.

Have Adobe Acrobat Pro? Use File → Reduce File Size (the free Acrobat Reader cannot do this).

1. In Preview, choose View → Thumbnails.
2. Select blank or duplicate pages and press Delete.
3. Choose File → Save. Please keep every page of your transcript.

1. Open the Files app, tap ⋯ (top right) and choose Scan Documents. (The Notes app can scan too.)
2. Hold the phone over the page; it captures automatically. Add every page, then tap Save.
3. Upload that PDF. Phone scans of one to three pages are usually well under 20 MB.

1. Open the Google Drive app, tap + and choose Scan.
2. Photograph each page, crop if needed, and tap Save. Drive creates a PDF.
3. Download it to your phone and upload it here.

• Lay the page flat in good daylight; avoid shadows and flash glare.
• Fill the frame with the page: no desk or background around it.
• Scan documents rather than taking ordinary photos: scans are far smaller and easier to read.

1. Open the image in Preview.
2. Choose Tools → Adjust Size…, keep Scale proportionally ticked and set the width to 1600 pixels.
3. Choose File → Export…, pick JPEG, set Quality to about the middle, and Save.

1. Open the image in Photos.
2. Click ⋯ (See more) → Resize image.
3. Choose a medium size (around 1600–2000 pixels wide) and save a copy as JPG.

1. Open the image in Paint.
2. Click Resize, choose Percentage and enter 50 for both sides.
3. Choose File → Save as → JPEG picture.

For photos and scans, a JPEG is often five to ten times smaller than a PNG of the same picture, with no visible difference. Keep PNG only for screenshots.

Some PDFs (fillable forms, files exported from certain tools) contain code we don’t accept. Printing to a new PDF removes it and keeps the page exactly as it looks:

1. Mac: open the PDF, choose File → Print, then PDF → Save as PDF (bottom left).
2. Windows: open the PDF in Microsoft Edge or Chrome, press Ctrl + P, choose Microsoft Print to PDF (Edge) or Save as PDF (Chrome), then Print / Save.
3. Upload the new file.

Every document is verified before it is stored. If one doesn’t pass, create a fresh copy, for example by scanning the paper original again or exporting it again from the program you made it in, and upload that.

If it happens again, run your device’s security check (on Windows, Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Quick scan; on a Mac, keep macOS up to date), then create the copy again.