Job application form. "CV must be PDF, under 1 MB." Your three-page CV with a headshot is 4.2 MB. The submit button rejects everything above.
1 MB is doable for most documents. Tactics differ based on what's making it big.
Pinpoint the bloat
Open the PDF and look at what it contains. Photos? Headshot, logos, screenshots? Most likely culprits. Multiple pages of text rarely exceed 1 MB.
On a CV, the headshot and any photo-style content is 80% of the file. Compress those and you're under.
Run medium-to-high compression
Drop the file into Flint's compressor and try Medium first. For most 4-5 MB CVs, that's enough.
If still over, step to High. CV photos compress well — the result still looks fine at the size it's typically displayed.
If still over, simplify
Remove the headshot if it's not required. Re-export the source with a smaller image. Strip metadata to shave a few KB.
For a CV specifically, a clean text-only layout will sit comfortably under 500 KB even with formatting and bullet points.
FAQ
What's the typical size of a CV PDF?
Without photos: 100-300 KB. With a headshot and logos: 500-1500 KB. Compressing typically halves it.
Does compression affect text quality?
No. Text is vector-rendered; compression doesn't touch it. Only embedded images and fonts are affected.
Will the headshot still look good?
At Medium, yes. At High, slightly softer but acceptable for a CV. Test at the display size — usually small, so quality holds up.
What if I have a portfolio page in my CV?
Portfolio pages are image-heavy and inflate the file. Compress aggressively or move the portfolio to a linked URL.
1 MB is comfortable for most documents. Compress yours and you'll likely have headroom to spare.