diff --git a/src/app/api/upload/route.ts b/src/app/api/upload/route.ts
index 6ce5806b..67d4fb50 100644
--- a/src/app/api/upload/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/upload/route.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 import { connectToDatabase } from "@/lib/database/mongoose";
 import { PaperAdmin } from "@/db/papers";
-import { createPDFfromImages } from "@/lib/storage/pdf";
+import { createPDFfromImages, compressPDF } from "@/lib/storage/pdf";
 import { uploadPDF, uploadThumbnail } from "@/lib/storage/gcp";
 import { success, failure } from "@/lib/utils/response";
 
 export const runtime = "nodejs";
 
+const MAX_COMPRESSED_PDF_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB compressed
+const COMPRESS_THRESHOLD = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB
+
 export async function POST(req: Request) {
   try {
     await connectToDatabase();
@@ -23,9 +26,31 @@ export async function POST(req: Request) {
       if (!files[0]) {
         return failure("No PDF file provided.", 400);
       }
-      pdfBytes = new Uint8Array(await files[0].arrayBuffer());
+
+      const rawPdfBytes = new Uint8Array(await files[0].arrayBuffer());
+      if (rawPdfBytes.length > COMPRESS_THRESHOLD) {
+        const compressedPdfBytes = await compressPDF(rawPdfBytes);
+        pdfBytes = compressedPdfBytes.length <= rawPdfBytes.length
+          ? compressedPdfBytes
+          : rawPdfBytes;
+
+        if (pdfBytes.length > MAX_COMPRESSED_PDF_SIZE) {
+          return failure(
+            "PDF is too large after compression. The compressed file must be under 5MB.",
+            413,
+          );
+        }
+      } else {
+        pdfBytes = rawPdfBytes;
+      }
     } else {
       pdfBytes = await createPDFfromImages(files);
+      if (pdfBytes.length > MAX_COMPRESSED_PDF_SIZE) {
+        return failure(
+          "Generated PDF is too large after compression. Please upload fewer or smaller images.",
+          413,
+        );
+      }
     }
 
     const buffer = Buffer.from(pdfBytes);
diff --git a/src/app/upload/page.tsx b/src/app/upload/page.tsx
index a1a8c495..dbabed99 100644
--- a/src/app/upload/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/upload/page.tsx
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import { CSS } from "@dnd-kit/utilities";
 import Dropzone from "react-dropzone";
 import { Upload, XIcon } from "lucide-react";
 import { GlobalWorkerOptions } from "pdfjs-dist";
-import type { ApiResponse } from "@/interface"
+import type { ApiResponse } from "@/interface";
 
 GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc =
   "https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/pdf.js/4.8.69/pdf.worker.min.mjs";
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ export default function Page() {
 
   const fileCheckAndSelect = useCallback(
     (acceptedFiles: File[]) => {
-      const maxFileSize = 5 * 1024 * 1024;
       const allowedFileTypes = [
         "application/pdf",
         "image/jpeg",
@@ -137,28 +136,18 @@ export default function Page() {
       }
 
       const allFiles = [...files, ...acceptedFiles];
-      if (allFiles.length > 5) {
-        toast.error("You can upload up to 5 files only", { id: toastId });
-        return;
-      }
-
-      const totalSize = allFiles.reduce(
-        (sum, f) => sum + f.size,
-        0,
-      );
-      if (totalSize > maxFileSize){
-        toast.error("The total upload size exceeds 5MB.", { id: toastId });
+      if (allFiles.length > 10) {
+        toast.error("You can upload up to 10 files only", { id: toastId });
         return;
       }
 
       const invalidFiles = acceptedFiles.filter(
-        (file) =>
-          file.size > maxFileSize || !allowedFileTypes.includes(file.type),
+        (file) => !allowedFileTypes.includes(file.type),
       );
 
       if (invalidFiles.length > 0) {
         toast.error(
-          "Some files are invalid. Make sure the total size is below 5MB and files are of allowed types (PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF).",
+          "Some files are invalid. Make sure they are PDFs, JPEGs, PNGs, or GIFs.",
           { id: toastId },
         );
         return;
@@ -279,7 +268,10 @@ export default function Page() {
       await toast.promise(
         async () => {
           try {
-            await axios.post<ApiResponse<uploadResponse>>("/api/upload", formData);
+            await axios.post<ApiResponse<uploadResponse>>(
+              "/api/upload",
+              formData,
+            );
             return { message: "Papers uploaded successfully!" };
           } catch (error) {
             if (error instanceof AxiosError) {
@@ -447,12 +439,14 @@ export default function Page() {
                 );
 
                 return (
-                  <section 
+                  <section
                     {...getRootProps()}
-                    className="mt-6 flex w-full flex-col items-center">
+                    className="mt-6 flex w-full flex-col items-center"
+                  >
                     <input {...getInputProps()} />
                     <div className="flex w-max gap-4">
-                      <div className="scrollbar-hide flex w-[80vw] max-w-4xl flex-col justify-between overflow-x-auto overflow-y-hidden rounded-[40px] border-[6px] border-[#A78BFA] bg-indigo-900/10 p-4 dark:border-indigo-900 sm:p-6 md:w-max md:p-8">j
+                      <div className="scrollbar-hide flex w-[80vw] max-w-4xl flex-col justify-between overflow-x-auto overflow-y-hidden rounded-[40px] border-[6px] border-[#A78BFA] bg-indigo-900/10 p-4 dark:border-indigo-900 sm:p-6 md:w-max md:p-8">
+                        j
                         <DndContext
                           sensors={sensors}
                           collisionDetection={closestCenter}
@@ -528,10 +522,9 @@ export default function Page() {
                       </div>
                     )}
                   </section>
-                )
+                );
               }}
             </Dropzone>
-
           )}
 
           <Button
@@ -543,7 +536,6 @@ export default function Page() {
           </Button>
         </div>
       </div>
-      
 
       {zoomIndex !== null && (
         <div className="fixed inset-0 z-50 flex items-center justify-center bg-black bg-opacity-70">
diff --git a/src/lib/storage/pdf.ts b/src/lib/storage/pdf.ts
index 2904bbff..0f736a1a 100644
--- a/src/lib/storage/pdf.ts
+++ b/src/lib/storage/pdf.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,47 @@
 import { PDFDocument } from "pdf-lib";
+import { createCanvas, loadImage } from "canvas";
+
+const DEFAULT_PDF_SAVE_OPTIONS = {
+  useObjectStreams: true,
+  compress: true,
+};
+const MAX_IMAGE_DIMENSION = 1600;
+const JPEG_QUALITY = 0.72;
+
+async function normalizeImage(file: File) {
+  const rawBytes = Buffer.from(await file.arrayBuffer());
+  const image = await loadImage(rawBytes);
+
+  const originalWidth = image.width;
+  const originalHeight = image.height;
+  const scale = Math.min(1, MAX_IMAGE_DIMENSION / Math.max(originalWidth, originalHeight));
+  const width = Math.max(1, Math.round(originalWidth * scale));
+  const height = Math.max(1, Math.round(originalHeight * scale));
+
+  const canvas = createCanvas(width, height);
+  const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
+  ctx.drawImage(image, 0, 0, width, height);
+
+  return canvas.toBuffer("image/jpeg", {
+    quality: JPEG_QUALITY,
+    chromaSubsampling: true,
+  });
+}
 
 export async function createPDFfromImages(files: File[]): Promise<Uint8Array> {
   const pdfDoc = await PDFDocument.create();
 
   for (const file of files) {
-    const imgBytes = Buffer.from(await file.arrayBuffer());
-    let img;
-    if (file.type === "image/png") {
-      img = await pdfDoc.embedPng(imgBytes);
-    } else if (file.type === "image/jpeg" || file.type === "image/jpg") {
-      img = await pdfDoc.embedJpg(imgBytes);
-    } else continue;
-
+    const normalizedBytes = await normalizeImage(file);
+    const img = await pdfDoc.embedJpg(normalizedBytes);
     const page = pdfDoc.addPage([img.width, img.height]);
     page.drawImage(img, { x: 0, y: 0, width: img.width, height: img.height });
   }
 
-  return pdfDoc.save();
+  return pdfDoc.save(DEFAULT_PDF_SAVE_OPTIONS);
+}
+
+export async function compressPDF(pdfBytes: Uint8Array): Promise<Uint8Array> {
+  const pdfDoc = await PDFDocument.load(pdfBytes, { ignoreEncryption: true });
+  return pdfDoc.save(DEFAULT_PDF_SAVE_OPTIONS);
 }