Compress PDF
Make a PDF smaller by recompressing its photos and scans; the text stays exactly as it is. Need it under 2 MB, 1 MB or 500 KB for a form? Choose “Up to a limit”.
Choose the PDF that’s too big
or drop it here
Processed in this browser: your file is never uploaded to any server. Turn on airplane mode once the page has loaded and it keeps working. Check it yourself
How to use it
- Choose the PDF (or drop it on the box).
- Pick how much to compress it, or type the size limit you were given, such as 2 MB.
- Tap “Compress”. You’ll see the size before and after, and the new file downloads straight away.
How we make it smaller
In almost every heavy PDF, the weight comes from photos and scanned pages. We find each image inside the file, scale it to a sensible resolution and save it again as a JPG. Text, tables and vector drawings are left alone, so they stay sharp and you can still copy and search them.
- Recommended: images at about 150 dpi, quality 75%. Hard to tell apart from the original.
- Strong: about 100 dpi, quality 60%. Good for email attachments and upload forms.
- Up to a limit: we try from gentle to strong until the file is under the size you set.
Common size limits
Job portals, university applications and online forms often cap uploads at 1 to 5 MB, and email services usually stop at around 20 to 25 MB per message. Some exam and ID portals ask for much less, 100 or 200 KB. Type that number in “Up to a limit” (0.1 for 100 KB) and we’ll aim for it.
Small targets are realistic for short documents. A one-page scan gets under 100 KB; a 30-page scan won’t without becoming hard to read. In that case, split it with Split PDF and upload the parts.
What it can’t do (and we say so)
- If the PDF has almost no images (only text), it’s already light and there’s little to gain.
- If even the strongest level doesn’t reach your limit, we offer to turn each page into an image. That always gets there, but the text can no longer be selected. We only do it if you say yes.
- Images in special formats (print CMYK, JPEG 2000, black-and-white fax) are left as they are.
- If the PDF carries a certificate-based digital signature, any change breaks it, compressing included. Compress first, sign afterwards.
Also need to turn photos and PDFs into one A4 or Letter file? Prepare for upload does it in one step and warns you if the text stops being readable.
Questions
How do I compress a PDF file?
Choose the file above, keep “Recommended” and tap “Compress”. It takes a few seconds, and you get a smaller copy while your original stays as it was.
How much smaller will it get?
It depends on what’s inside. A scan made with phone photos usually shrinks by 60% to 90%. A PDF exported from a word processor, with few or no images, shrinks very little.
Can I compress a PDF without losing quality?
Partly. We always save the file with a tidy structure, which loses nothing. The big savings come from the images, though, and there some loss is unavoidable, however small.
How do I get a PDF under 100 KB?
Choose “Up to a limit” and type 0.1. For a page or two it usually works; if we can’t get there with the images alone, we’ll ask before turning the pages into images.
Other tools
Updated