Practical PDF guide
How to Compress a PDF
Reducing a PDF can make it easier to attach or transfer. The current compression tool rewrites the PDF structure; it does not downsample or re-encode embedded images.
When this is useful
Try this workflow when a PDF may contain redundant structure or metadata. If most of the file size comes from high-resolution photos, use the source application to resize or export those images before creating the PDF.
Steps
Keep a copy of the original and check its current file size.
Open Compress PDF, upload a readable PDF, and choose a compression level.
Download the returned copy only if the tool can make it smaller; otherwise it explains why no replacement was returned.
Compare the output size and open several pages to confirm that content remains intact.
Important considerations
- The tool supports PDFs up to 50 pages. A document that is already compact may not shrink.
- The high setting also removes document metadata fields. Compression is not a privacy scrubber and does not guarantee removal of all identifying content.
If something goes wrong
If there is no size reduction, export a new PDF from the source application with image quality or resolution settings adjusted. Avoid repeated compression of already compressed files.