Almost every governmental, academic, and visa application portal in Nepal enforces strict file upload limits—typically maximum 200 KB to 500 KB per document. When applicants scan documents using mobile scanners or photocopier machines, files routinely exceed 5 MB to 15 MB. Uploading these results in instant validation errors like 'File size exceeds allowable limit'.
In this guide, we break down how to downsize your PDF documents without making your photo, signature, or official seal unreadable.
1. Common File Size Requirements in Nepal
| Portal / Institution | Allowed Formats | Standard File Size Limit | Recommended DPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lok Sewa Aayog (PSC Online) | PDF, JPG | Max 200 KB per file | 150 DPI |
| Tribhuvan University (TU Portal) | Max 500 KB | 150–200 DPI | |
| VFS Global (Visa Document Upload) | Max 1 MB – 2 MB | 200–300 DPI | |
| US Travel Docs / CEAC DS-160 | PDF, JPEG | Max 2 MB | 300 DPI |
| Nepal Department of Passports (e-Passport) | PDF, JPG | Max 300 KB | 200 DPI |
2. Three Levels of Compression on PDFNepal
PDFNepal uses intelligent adaptive compression algorithms designed to preserve vector fonts and high-contrast lines while stripping unnecessary metadata, color profiles, and redundant image data:
Light Compression
Reduces size by 20–40%. Perfect for professional contracts, portfolios, and reports where maximum visual clarity is essential.
Recommended Compression
Reduces size by 60–80%. Ideal balance for university admissions, citizenship uploads, and employment portals.
Extreme Compression
Reduces size by 85–95%. Engineered specifically to compress multi-page documents under the strict 200 KB threshold for PSC Nepal.
3. Tips for Scanning High-Quality, Low-Size PDFs
- Scan in Grayscale or Black & White: Unless your document contains a color passport photo, scan official certificates, marks sheets, and citizenship cards in grayscale. Grayscale files are 60% smaller than full-color RGB files.
- Set Resolution to 150–200 DPI: 300+ DPI is intended for offset printing, not internet portal verification. 150 DPI produces razor-sharp text on phone and laptop screens while dramatically cutting bytes.
- Crop Unwanted Backgrounds: Crop wooden table edges, shadows, and bedsheets before converting images to PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions
Written by Bikram Karki
Cloud Infrastructure & Optimization EngineerTechnical writer and researcher at PDFNepal, focusing on digital document standards, sovereign encryption, localized government workflows, and high-performance web tooling in Nepal.
