Tools / Compress PDF
Compress PDF
Make a PDF smaller, and see exactly what it cost.
- This tool has no upload step
- This browser-only engine does not send your file
- Every tool driven in a browser each release
Choose a PDF
or drop it here
How it works
- Add the PDF.
- Choose a mode. 'Keep text' is safe and often saves little. 'Rasterise' is much smaller and turns the text into a picture.
- Check the before and after sizes, then download.
What compression actually costs you
Every PDF is smaller for a reason, and it is worth knowing which reason applies to yours before you send it to somebody.
Try Keep text first, always
It rewrites the file's structure: it drops unused objects and repacks streams. Nothing that is visible changes and the text stays selectable and searchable. If it gets you under your limit, take it.
If Keep text saved almost nothing, the weight is in the images
That mode does not touch image data. A PDF that is large because it holds photographs or scanned pages has nothing for it to win, and this page says so rather than reporting a victory.
Rasterise is for scans, not for contracts
It renders every page and puts the picture back. Much smaller, and it destroys selectable text, copy and paste, search, links, form fields and anything a screen reader can use. A scanned receipt loses nothing it had. A signed agreement loses a great deal.
Look at the sample crop before you download
After rasterising, the page shows a full-size crop of the busiest page at exactly the quality you are about to get. Judge it there. It is much cheaper than discovering the problem after you have sent it.
Where this is the wrong tool. Rasterising a text document can make it BIGGER. A page of type stores far more compactly as type than as a photograph of type. When that happens the result says so in red and tells you to keep your original, rather than quietly handing you a worse file.
When the browser is not enough
Scanly for Android
Take document-scanning workflows to your Android phone with Scanly. See the Google Play listing for current features, requirements and data-processing information.
Questions
Do my files get uploaded?
No. The rewrite happens in your browser.
Is there a file size limit?
None is imposed. The whole file is held in memory twice while it is rewritten, once as it came in and once as it is going out, so the practical ceiling is roughly whatever your device can hold twice over. On a laptop that is large; on an old phone it is not.
Which mode should I pick?
'Keep text' first. If it gets you under your limit, take it, because the text stays selectable and searchable. Only rasterise if you need the file much smaller and you can live without selectable text.
Why did 'Keep text' barely change anything?
Because that mode only rewrites the file's structure. It drops unused objects and repacks streams. If your PDF is big because of photographs, there is nothing there to win, and the page will say so rather than pretend.
What exactly does 'Rasterise' destroy?
Selectable text, copy and paste, text search, links, form fields and any accessibility structure. Every page becomes a photograph of itself. It is the right choice for a scan and the wrong one for a contract.
Is a compressed scan still readable?
Usually yes at the default quality. The preview shows a 100% crop of the busiest page before you download, so you can judge it rather than trust it.