Pixels Are the First Lever for File Weight
Why resize beats blind compression
A 6000 px JPEG can be crushed to unusable mush and still exceed resize image to mb gates. Reducing pixel count is the image size reducer move that drops KB dramatically while keeping subjects readable.
Common portal ceilings
Government forms want resize image under 100kb; many job boards cap resize image under 200kb; email clients tolerate resize image under 500kb better than 5 MB monsters. Resize image under 1mb is a frequent visa and scholarship threshold.
Compress and resize image together
Downscale on Canvas, export JPEG/WebP at 0.92, check file size in OS. Repeat with smaller dimensions if needed — resize image for email without attachment bounce-backs.