It sounds backwards, but it's a real and surprisingly common problem: the form says "minimum 20KB" and your photo is 14KB, so the upload fails. Efficient phone cameras and messaging apps produce small files, and portals with size ranges — like the 20–50KB rule on many exam applications — reject the bottom just as strictly as the top.
PixKB solves this the safe way. Set your minimum, choose "At least target", and the tool pads the JPEG with invisible metadata segments until it clears the bound. The image pixels are untouched — it looks identical, decodes normally everywhere, and passes portal size checks because the file genuinely is that many bytes.
or drop it anywhere in this box
JPG, PNG, WebP · processed locally on your device
Custom target, 2–10240 KB
Match the portal's rule
Converting PNG with transparency to JPG fills the background white.
One tap applies the exact dimensions, format, and file-size rule for the form. Verified presets are checked against the official source.
0 KB— KB
ORIGINAL—
RESULT—
Everything runs in your browser using the HTML5 Canvas — your photo is never uploaded to any server.
AD SLOT — BELOW TOOL
Why not just re-save at higher quality?
Re-encoding a small JPEG at a higher quality setting inflates the file, but it also re-compresses the pixels — quality gets slightly worse, not better, and the final size is unpredictable. Metadata padding adds exactly the bytes needed, changes nothing visible, and is the same technique print shops use to satisfy minimum-size upload rules. If your photo is also below the form's minimum dimensions, fix that first on the Dimensions tab.
Frequently asked questions
Is padding a JPEG safe? Will portals detect it?
It's standard JPEG structure — comment segments that every decoder is built to skip. The file opens normally in any viewer, and size checks pass because the size is real.
Can I increase a PNG's size in KB?
The padding method here produces JPEG output, which is what forms with KB minimums almost always require. Convert the PNG on the Convert tab first if needed.
My photo is 5KB and the form wants 20–50KB. Will it look pixelated?
Padding won't fix pixelation — a 5KB source is usually small in dimensions too. Retake or export a larger original if you can, then use this tool to land inside the range.