Compress a PDF for assignment submission
Get the report under the upload limit before the deadline, without sending it to a website first.
Drop files here
or click to choose from your deviceAccepted: PDF
One file per runUp to 20 MB per file5 runs per dayFree PDFs end with a small “Made with nouplo.com” lineRemove limits with Pro✓ Works offline
Your files stay on your device
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and you can even turn off your internet connection before you start.
Example
Example: an 18 MB lab report with phone photos, for a portal that takes 5 MB
biology-lab-report.pdf, exported from Word: 14 pages of text and tables and six photos of the experiment taken on a phone at 4032 × 3024 pixels. It weighs 18 MB and the course portal refuses anything over 5 MB. Settings: Target size Under 5 MB.
- Under 5 MB means at most 5,000,000 bytes, so the file passes whether the portal counts a megabyte as 1,000,000 or 1,048,576 bytes.
- With a target the level is not used: five settings are tried from the gentlest, each from the original file, and the first copy under the limit is the one you get.
- Photos and screenshots are re-encoded as JPEG, each only if that makes it smaller. Text, tables and equations are vector and stay sharp; pictures with transparency stay as they are.
| Step | JPEG quality | Each 4032 × 3024 photo becomes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Light) | 0.85 | 2400 × 1800 |
| 2 (Balanced) | 0.7 | 1600 × 1200 |
| 3 (Strong) | 0.5 | 1100 × 825 |
| 4 | 0.4 | 900 × 675 |
| 5 | 0.3 | 700 × 525 |
biology-lab-report-compressed.pdf from the first step under 5,000,000 bytes, its new size shown beside it. Zoom into a photo before you submit. If even step 5 is over, the smallest copy comes back and its size tells you how far off it is.
How it works
- Export the assignment as PDF from Word, Google Docs or LaTeX, or drop the scan of handwritten work.
- Balanced is preselected: photos and screenshots are re-encoded as JPEG at quality 0.7 and capped at 1600 pixels, which stays readable when the marker zooms in. Text and equations are vector and untouched. Or pick the portal’s limit under Target size.
- Press Compress assignment and compare the new size with the portal limit. If it is still over, run it again with Strong.
- Download and upload to Moodle, Canvas, Turnitin, Blackboard or Google Classroom. Open it once to check the figures before submitting.
Frequently asked questions
- What are typical upload limits?
- Turnitin accepts up to 100 MB and 800 pages. Moodle sites commonly cap uploads between 2 MB and 50 MB, set by the university. Email submissions often stop at 10 MB. The limit is shown on the assignment page or in the error message.
- Why is my essay 40 MB?
- Almost always because of images: pasted screenshots at full resolution, phone photos of lab notes, or a scanned cover page. Each one can be several MB. Text alone rarely exceeds 1 MB.
- Will the marker notice?
- Text is untouched. Photos are downsampled to 1600 pixels at Balanced, which is more than a full page width on screen, so charts and photos stay legible. Choose Light if the assignment is about photography or high-detail imagery.
- It did not shrink.
- The file is probably text and vector graphics only, which are already compact, or the images are already small. Check whether you are really over the limit; some portals also reject files by page count, which compression does not change.
- Why did my screenshots not get smaller?
- Screenshots Word keeps without loss are re-encoded as JPEG like photos, but only when the JPEG comes out smaller: a screenshot of a plain window or a simple chart is often smaller as it was, and stays. Screenshots with transparency are left as they are too. If a report of screenshots is still too big, try Strong, or a target size, which go down to smaller pixel sizes.
- Target size or compression level?
- Target size when the portal names a limit: up to five settings are tried for a limit in MB (ten for 100–500 KB, the last three in grey), gentlest first, and you get the first copy under it, counted in thousands (5 MB is 5,000,000 bytes). A level when you just want it smaller: Light, Balanced or Strong, one pass.
- Is the assignment uploaded to Nouplo?
- No. Compression runs in your browser, so your unsubmitted work is not stored anywhere else. The free plan handles one file up to 20 MB per run and 5 runs per day; Pro removes those limits.
Made for a specific use
Related tools
⇲ Compress PDF Make a PDF smaller for email or upload limits without sending it to anyone. ⧉ Merge PDF Combine PDFs into one document, in the order you choose, without sending them anywhere. ⋈ Split PDF Cut one PDF into several files by page ranges, one file per page, or parts under a size limit. ▣ PDF to JPG Export each page as an image you can drop into a slide, a chat or a website.