Choose a compression level, then download your slimmed-down PDF.
Result
What this tool is for
This tool shrinks a PDF's file size to make it easier to email or upload to a form with a strict size limit. Each page is re-encoded at a resolution and image quality that match the level you choose.
Practical use cases
- Email attachments: get a scanned document under your provider's attachment size limit.
- Online forms: meet the upload size cap on a job application portal or government website.
- Storage: save space when archiving large batches of scanned PDFs.
How to use this tool
- Add the PDF file you want to compress.
- Choose a level: strong compression (smallest file), balanced, or maximum quality.
- Click "Compress", check the preview and the size reduction achieved, then download.
- Compare the original size and the new size shown in the result.
Key benefits
- Noticeable size reduction, especially on PDFs full of images or scans.
- Three levels to balance file size and quality depending on your use.
- Fully local processing, nothing is sent to a server.
Practical tips
- This compression method turns each page into an image: text is no longer selectable or copyable afterwards. For a document where the text needs to stay usable, only compress when you really need to.
- "Strong compression" is ideal for quickly emailing a document that's already scanned or image-heavy.
- If the result is still too large, try splitting the PDF into several shorter files with the Split PDF tool.
Good to know
This compression works by turning each page into a compressed image, then reassembling those images into a new PDF, entirely in your browser. It's the only method that's realistic without a server: it works very well on scanned or image-heavy PDFs, but it makes the text non-selectable in the final file.
Common problems
If the size barely changes, your PDF is probably already mostly plain text with few images — text-heavy PDFs are naturally small and don't compress much further. If images look noticeably blurry afterward, try the "maximum quality" or "balanced" setting instead of strong compression.
Frequently asked questions
Does the text stay selectable after compression?+
No: this method turns each page into an image to reduce size, which makes the text non-selectable and non-searchable in the resulting PDF.
Why does my PDF barely shrink at all?+
If the PDF is already mostly plain text with few images, it's probably already small — compression mainly helps PDFs that are heavy on images or scans.
Which compression level should I choose?+
Use strong compression when file size matters most (e.g. email attachments), and maximum quality when you need images and text to stay as sharp as possible.