Compress PDF
Shrink scan-heavy PDFs before email or before embedding into Word. This tool redraws each page as a JPEG inside a new PDF: strong on photo scans, weaker when you need selectable text afterward. Pick quality consciously.
Your file is processed entirely in your browser. It is never uploaded to any server.
How to compress a PDF, step by step
- Choose the PDF. Scanned packets benefit most; already-tiny text PDFs may not shrink much (or can even grow).
- Pick quality and scale. Start with Balanced / 1.2×.
- Click Compress and compare the reported before/after sizes.
- Open a page at 100% zoom. If text looks muddy, raise quality or scale and run again.
Why this instead of “print to PDF” at low DPI
Print drivers vary by OS and often surprise you with margins or color shifts. Here the tradeoff is explicit: pages become images, text stops being selectable, and you see the byte change immediately, which is useful when you only need a smaller attachment for Word or email.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my file get bigger?
Efficient text-only PDFs can expand when flattened to images. Compression helps most on photo or scanner PDFs.
Can I still copy text after compressing?
No. This method flattens each page to a picture. Keep the original if you need a text layer.
Is this as strong as desktop Acrobat optimization?
Desktop tools can recompress embedded images without flattening whole pages. Use those when you must preserve text; use this for quick, private, scan-friendly shrinkage.
Should I compress a PDF before inserting it into Word?
Yes, if the file is large. Embedding a big PDF as an object, or converting many high-resolution scanned pages, can bloat the .docx or slow things down. Compress first, then use Insert as Object, Insert as Image, or the PDF to Word converter.