Compress a PDF

Two approaches are offered. Lossless keeps text, fonts and vectors untouched and only tidies the file structure – gains are modest. The stronger levels re-draw each page as a compressed JPEG, which can shrink scans and image-heavy PDFs dramatically but turns text into an image.

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How to use Compress PDF

Select a PDF.
Choose a level – start with Lossless, then try stronger levels if the file is still too big.
Compress and compare the before/after sizes.
Download the result (it is never larger than the original – if it would be, the original is returned).

Supported formats

Input: PDF
Output: PDF

What the stronger levels do

Pages are rendered with PDF.js at 72–150 dpi and stored as JPEG. File size drops sharply for scans and photos, but text is no longer selectable or searchable and vector graphics become pixels. Run OCR PDF afterwards if you need searchable text.

When it helps most

Scanned documents and PDFs full of large photographs. Text-only PDFs are usually small already and gain little from either mode.

Privacy

Files you choose are read into your browser’s memory and processed on your device; they are not uploaded to a server. Temporary download links are released after use, and the offline cache never stores your documents. More about privacy and limits.

Frequently asked questions

Why did lossless barely shrink my file?

Large embedded images are the usual cause and lossless mode does not recompress them. Try a stronger level.

Will links and forms survive?

In stronger levels no – pages become images. Lossless keeps page content as it was.

Can I target a specific size?

Yes, use the File Size Reducer, which tries progressively stronger settings until a target is met.