Pressing Fix handles everything fixable in one pass. Restrictions come off a file that opens but blocks printing or copying; a file that needs a password to open asks for the one you already know. Scripts, launch actions and embedded attachments are removed, fillable fields are flattened into the page, and Fit to size searches for the best-quality version under your limit, trying the lossless cleanup first and lowering image resolution and quality only as far as it must. Fit to size never turns text into pixels. The file is then checked again, and a plain-text report records every check and change. The file never leaves your device, which matters here: a passport page or birth certificate should not pass through a third-party converter on its way to a government. Bindery cannot promise the portal will accept the file. It saves the fixed copy as yourfile-ready.pdf and knows nothing about a portal’s naming pattern, so if the instructions set a file name, rename it yourself before uploading; page counts are not checked either.
How it works
- Drop the PDF and open Upload-ready — Government or visa portal is already chosen
- Type the limit your portal states and set any other rule its instructions name
- Press Fix; the file is checked again — download it with the plain-text report, and rename it if the portal sets a file name
Questions people ask
What if the portal allows only 200 or 300 KB per document?
Choose the Exam or ID form destination, which starts at 200 KB and is meant for 100–300 KB limits (it leaves out the attachments check; switch it back on if you like), or keep this one and type the smaller figure. Bindery counts 1 KB as 1,000 bytes, the stricter reading. At these sizes the search may reach the bottom of its ladder: image settings run from 220 DPI down to 50 DPI, and only the last three turn pictures grayscale, when colour cannot fit. Text stays text. If even that is over, the size check stays flagged, and the honest fix is fewer pages — extract only the page the slot asks for.
The portal has a separate upload slot for each document. Can Bindery separate them?
Yes — do that before the check. If the passport page, statements and letters are in one PDF, Split cuts it every page, every N pages or at bookmarks, and Extract pages pulls out exactly the pages one slot needs; then run each file through Upload-ready. If a single document is too big for its slot and the portal takes several files there, Split under a size makes consecutive parts, measuring each by really writing it — then run each part through Upload-ready, which checks it against the limit again. On the free plan the checklist never uses a job, but each split or extraction, each Images → PDF conversion and each fix does — three completed jobs per UTC day — and a file that already passes has nothing to fix.
Is my passport scan uploaded anywhere while it is checked and fixed?
No. It is opened, checked, fixed and saved inside your browser tab — no part of the file is sent to Bindery, and there is no server copy to delete. The /verify page shows how to confirm in the browser’s network panel that the document’s bytes stay on your device. On the free plan files can be up to 25 MB, and each exported page carries a small “Made with Bindery” line at the foot; it goes on before the final size check, so your limit still holds for the file you download. Pro — $4 a month billed yearly, or $5 monthly — removes it.