diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fb5f6dd7..17a3b01d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
     "@types/pdfkit": "^0.17.6",
     "archiver": "^7.0.1",
     "better-auth": "^1.6.10",
+    "browser-image-compression": "^2.0.2",
     "bullmq": "^5.76.8",
     "class-variance-authority": "^0.7.1",
     "clsx": "^2.1.1",
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 41426831..414de234 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@ importers:
       better-auth:
         specifier: ^1.6.10
         version: 1.6.10(drizzle-kit@0.31.10)(drizzle-orm@0.45.2(gel@2.2.0)(kysely@0.28.17)(postgres@3.4.9))(mongodb@7.1.0(socks@2.8.8))(next@15.5.18(@playwright/test@1.60.0)(react-dom@19.2.6(react@19.2.6))(react@19.2.6))(react-dom@19.2.6(react@19.2.6))(react@19.2.6)(vitest@4.1.6)
+      browser-image-compression:
+        specifier: ^2.0.2
+        version: 2.0.2
       bullmq:
         specifier: ^5.76.8
         version: 5.76.8
@@ -2911,6 +2914,9 @@ packages:
   brotli@1.3.3:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-oTKjJdShmDuGW94SyyaoQvAjf30dZaHnjJ8uAF+u2/vGJkJbJPJAT1gDiOJP5v1Zb6f9KEyW/1HpuaWIXtGHPg==}
 
+  browser-image-compression@2.0.2:
+    resolution: {integrity: sha512-pBLlQyUf6yB8SmmngrcOw3EoS4RpQ1BcylI3T9Yqn7+4nrQTXJD4sJDe5ODnJdrvNMaio5OicFo75rDyJD2Ucw==}
+
   browser-or-node@2.1.1:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-8CVjaLJGuSKMVTxJ2DpBl5XnlNDiT4cQFeuCJJrvJmts9YrTZDizTX7PjC2s6W4x+MBGZeEY6dGMrF04/6Hgqg==}
 
@@ -5829,6 +5835,9 @@ packages:
     deprecated: uuid@10 and below is no longer supported.  For ESM codebases, update to uuid@latest.  For CommonJS codebases, use uuid@11 (but be aware this version will likely be deprecated in 2028).
     hasBin: true
 
+  uzip@0.20201231.0:
+    resolution: {integrity: sha512-OZeJfZP+R0z9D6TmBgLq2LHzSSptGMGDGigGiEe0pr8UBe/7fdflgHlHBNDASTXB5jnFuxHpNaJywSg8YFeGng==}
+
   vary@1.1.2:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-BNGbWLfd0eUPabhkXUVm0j8uuvREyTh5ovRa/dyow/BqAbZJyC+5fU+IzQOzmAKzYqYRAISoRhdQr3eIZ/PXqg==}
     engines: {node: '>= 0.8'}
@@ -8518,6 +8527,10 @@ snapshots:
     dependencies:
       base64-js: 1.5.1
 
+  browser-image-compression@2.0.2:
+    dependencies:
+      uzip: 0.20201231.0
+
   browser-or-node@2.1.1: {}
 
   browserify-zlib@0.2.0:
@@ -11672,6 +11685,8 @@ snapshots:
 
   uuid@8.3.2: {}
 
+  uzip@0.20201231.0: {}
+
   vary@1.1.2: {}
 
   vaul@1.1.2(@types/react-dom@19.2.3(@types/react@19.2.14))(@types/react@19.2.14)(react-dom@19.2.6(react@19.2.6))(react@19.2.6):
diff --git a/src/components/scan/scan-shell.tsx b/src/components/scan/scan-shell.tsx
index f0dfb266..1af8b251 100644
--- a/src/components/scan/scan-shell.tsx
+++ b/src/components/scan/scan-shell.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,41 @@ import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';
 import { EXPENSE_CATEGORIES, PAYMENT_METHODS } from '@/lib/constants';
 import { runTesseract } from '@/lib/ocr/tesseract-client';
 
+// Lazy-loaded compression — the worker bundle isn't on the critical path,
+// and most users won't reach this code without first granting camera/file
+// access, by which point the module is already paged in.
+async function compressReceiptIfHeavy(file: File): Promise<File> {
+  // Only compress raster images > ~1 MB. PDFs, SVGs, and small files pass
+  // through untouched. Magic-byte check via mime type — the caller is the
+  // file picker which trusts the picker output already.
+  if (!file.type.startsWith('image/') || file.type === 'image/svg+xml') return file;
+  if (file.size < 1 * 1024 * 1024) return file;
+  const { default: imageCompression } = await import('browser-image-compression');
+  try {
+    const compressed = await imageCompression(file, {
+      maxSizeMB: 0.5, // ~500 KB target — plenty of resolution for OCR
+      maxWidthOrHeight: 2000, // tesseract.js's sweet spot for receipt text
+      useWebWorker: true, // off the main thread; UI stays responsive
+      // Auto-rotate to EXIF orientation, strip metadata. Phones often
+      // store the rotation as EXIF rather than rotating pixels; without
+      // this the receipt comes out sideways and OCR confidence tanks.
+      preserveExif: false,
+      fileType: file.type === 'image/png' ? 'image/jpeg' : file.type,
+      initialQuality: 0.85,
+    });
+    // Browser-image-compression typings always say `File`, but in some
+    // runtimes the value comes through as a plain Blob. Belt-and-suspenders:
+    // wrap in a File so downstream FormData uses the original filename.
+    const blob = compressed as unknown as Blob;
+    if (typeof File !== 'undefined' && blob instanceof File) return blob;
+    return new File([blob], file.name, { type: blob.type });
+  } catch {
+    // Fall back to the original — we don't want a corner-case compression
+    // bug to block the user from saving an expense.
+    return file;
+  }
+}
+
 // ─── Types ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 interface ParsedReceipt {
@@ -301,7 +336,13 @@ export function ScanShell() {
     };
   }, [imagePreview]);
 
-  async function handleFile(file: File) {
+  async function handleFile(rawFile: File) {
+    // Compress oversized phone photos to ~500 KB in a WebWorker BEFORE
+    // we hand the bytes to tesseract or the server. Receipts from 12MP
+    // cameras are usually 4-8 MB; this drops them to ~250-500 KB without
+    // visible quality loss for text OCR. Mobile bandwidth + the server's
+    // sharp pipeline both benefit.
+    const file = await compressReceiptIfHeavy(rawFile);
     if (imagePreview) URL.revokeObjectURL(imagePreview);
     setImagePreview(URL.createObjectURL(file));
     setState({ kind: 'processing', engine: 'tesseract' });