Upload limits of 1 MB, 2 MB or 5 MB are everywhere on government and university forms, and scanned documents blow past them immediately. Here is what actually works.
For a strict 1 MB form, check the saved file against the form's definition of the limit. Illustrative example: if Balanced still exceeds the cap, try Smallest and inspect reference numbers. No preset guarantees a PDF under 1 MB.
All three presets turn pages into images, removing selectable text and interactive form behaviour. Existing certificate-based signatures are not preserved.
Output size is not guaranteed. There is no exact-KB control or result preview; download and inspect the saved PDF.
A scan in full colour at a high resolution is the usual reason a PDF is large, and it is also the case where this tool helps most. If the result is still over 1 MB on the Smallest setting, the document is simply too many pages for that limit. Send fewer pages, or split it into two files and submit them separately if the form allows.
If you can scan the document again, scan it in grey instead of colour and at a lower resolution. A page of text is perfectly readable at a fraction of the size, and a fresh scan made that way often fits under 1 MB without any compression at all.
Keep the original or re-export from its authoring app with smaller embedded images. Gentle also rasterises text; Brodidit has no text-preserving PDF compression mode.
A PDF that needs a password to open must be unlocked first with Protect PDF. A very long scanned document can run out of memory on a phone, so try a computer, or split it into parts and compress each one.
The tool works by drawing each page as a picture. A PDF that is mostly typed text is already small and efficient, so there is little to save. The tool warns you when the saving is tiny. Sending fewer pages is the better route for those.