File Size Estimator

Estimate consumer-style photo, video, audio, and document file sizes across decimal and binary units, with notes about compression and codec variability.

Digital storage

Estimate realistic file size ranges for photos, video, audio, and documents

Use common consumer-style assumptions to estimate how large a file might be before you upload, export, sync, or archive it.

Content type

Quick presets

Scope note

This page produces planning estimates, not exact export sizes. Compression settings, codec choice, image detail, metadata, and container overhead can move the final file meaningfully above or below the estimate.

Quick checkpoints

High-resolution RAW stills, high-frame-rate 4K video, and scanned PDF pages inflate much faster than basic text documents or compressed audio. Use the binary values when comparing against operating-system storage readouts.

Enter values Provide the key input for the selected content type to estimate file size.

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File Size Estimator

File size estimator: plan photo, video, audio, and document sizes

A file size estimator helps you predict how large an export or upload might be before you commit to it. This page uses practical consumer-style assumptions for common photos, videos, audio files, and documents, then shows the result in both decimal and binary storage units so you can compare the estimate with cloud-storage limits, device capacity, or operating-system readouts.

How the estimate is built

Each content type starts from a different planning assumption. Photos scale from megapixels and a rough compression ratio, video and audio scale from bitrate multiplied by duration, and documents scale from average bytes per page. Those assumptions are not exact, but they are useful for everyday planning before you export or upload a file.

The calculator then shows the same estimate in decimal units such as MB and GB and binary units such as MiB and GiB. That matters because many storage systems and operating systems report the same bytes with different labels.

Image size ≈ megapixels × bits per pixel ÷ compression ratio

Photo estimates begin from pixel count and an assumed compression level.

Media size = bitrate × duration ÷ 8

Video and audio estimates convert bitrates into bytes over the selected running time.

Document size ≈ pages × average bytes per page

Document estimates use broad per-page planning assumptions based on document type.

Why real files vary so much

A real export can land well above or below the estimate because file size depends on details the page cannot inspect. Photos vary with scene detail, sharpening, and camera metadata. Video varies with codec, frame rate, motion complexity, HDR, and target bitrate. Audio varies with codec and whether the export uses constant or variable bitrate.

Document sizes also move dramatically depending on whether the file is text-native, image-heavy, or fully scanned. A compact text PDF and a scanned PDF with OCR layers can differ by an order of magnitude even when the page count is the same.

When to use a file size estimator

Use the estimate when you need a quick answer before uploading to email, cloud storage, a CMS, or a client delivery portal. It is also useful when deciding whether a memory card, SSD, or sync plan has enough room for a batch of exports.

Use the result as a planning number rather than a promise. For production archiving, storage procurement, or bandwidth planning, keep a safety margin because real files often differ from rule-of-thumb estimates.

Further reading

Frequently asked questions

Why does my exported file not match the estimate exactly?

Because the page uses practical planning assumptions rather than your exact codec, camera, compression, metadata, and container settings. The estimate is designed for rough planning, not byte-perfect reproduction of a finished export.

 Why are both MB and MiB shown?

MB is a decimal unit based on powers of 1,000, while MiB is a binary unit based on powers of 1,024. Cloud services and device marketing often use MB or GB, while operating systems often report MiB or GiB for the same bytes.

 Does higher frame rate increase video file size?

Usually yes. Higher frame rates increase the amount of motion information a codec has to store, so exports at 60 fps are typically larger than similar exports at 24 or 30 fps.

 Are scanned PDFs usually larger than text documents?

Yes. Scanned pages are image-based and often include much more data per page than text-native documents, especially when OCR layers or higher-resolution scans are included.

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