Compress an image to 240 KB

What fits in 240 KB

The US visa and Diversity Visa photo ceiling. A 600 x 600 px square photo fits with quality to spare, which is exactly what those systems want: both run automated face detection on the upload, and a heavily compressed face is one of the common reasons that check fails. At 240 KB there is no reason for the photo to be anything other than crisp.

Forms that cap uploads at 240 KB

These are real application forms whose own notice sets 240 KB as the maximum, read from the document linked below each figure. Specs change with every notification cycle, so check your own notice before you submit.

Read the US Department of State digital image requirements notice

Getting the best result at this size

File size is the easy part here and almost never the reason a submission is rejected. These photos must be square, taken within the last six months, on a plain white or off-white background, with a neutral expression and both eyes open. The automated check is strict about head position within the frame, so get the crop right first and treat the size limit as an afterthought. Photographs of photographs, and images scanned from a printed copy, are rejected regardless of their file size.

How the target is reached

The image is saved as a JPG at the highest quality that still fits in 240 KB (counted as 240,000 bytes), found by trying successive quality levels. Only if quality alone cannot get there is the image scaled down, in steps, keeping its proportions. The exact final size and dimensions are shown when it finishes.