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Compress PDF

Compress PDF files online to reduce their size for email and uploads. Photos are re-compressed while text stays sharp and selectable. No upload needed.

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About the Compress PDF

Compress PDF makes a PDF smaller for email attachments and upload forms with size limits. The Recommended and Strong levels re-compress the photos and scans inside the file and leave text, vector drawings and links untouched, so the document stays sharp and searchable. Maximum redraws every page as an image for the smallest scans. Everything happens in your browser.

PDFs are processed in your browser with pdf-lib and PDF.js, so contracts, invoices and scans never leave your device.

How to use the Compress PDF

  1. Drop a PDF onto the box or choose a file.
  2. Pick a level: Recommended for most files, Strong for tighter limits, Maximum for scanned documents, or Lossless to change nothing visible.
  3. Click Compress PDF and compare the size before and after.
  4. Download the compressed file. If it would not be smaller, your original is kept and the tool tells you so.

Common mistakes

  • Using Maximum on text documents. Maximum turns text into pictures: the file may even grow, and text can no longer be searched or copied. Use it for scans, and Recommended or Strong for everything else.
  • Compressing the same file repeatedly. Each pass re-encodes the photos again and adds a little blur. Compress once from the original at the level you need.
  • Forgetting the original. Keep the uncompressed PDF for printing and archiving; send the compressed copy.

Works well with the Compress PDF

  • Merge PDF: combine files first, then compress the result once.
  • Image Compressor: shrink photos before turning them into a PDF.
  • Split PDF: split a file that is still too large into parts.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my PDF barely get smaller?

A PDF that is mostly text and vector graphics is already compact; there is little to remove. Big savings come from photos and scans. If your scan is stored in a format other than JPEG, try Maximum, which redraws each page as a compressed image.

Will the text still be selectable?

Yes with Lossless, Recommended and Strong: only embedded JPEG images are re-encoded. Maximum turns each page into a picture, so text can no longer be selected, searched or copied.

How much smaller will my file be?

It depends on what the file contains. Photo-heavy PDFs such as brochures, slide exports and phone scans can often shrink to half their size or less at Recommended; text-only documents may shrink by only a few percent.

Is my document uploaded?

No. The PDF is read, compressed and saved by your browser, which matters for contracts, payslips and ID scans.

Guides and tutorials

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