Particle size and shape are well known to play important roles in particle formation and processing as they influence the intermediate and final products directly. Their effects are especially important in the manufacturing of mini tablets 2-3 mm in diameter. In the present work, the role of particle size was studied during direct compression. Sorbitol was chosen as model material and compression was achieved with an instrumented tablet machine suitable for measurement of the force of compression, its software allowing calculation of the compression parameters. Through extrapolation of the compression parameters, the force of compression required to produce mini-tablets 3 mm in diameter with a mass of 140 mg was predicted. (C) 2015 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.