Compress PDF
Compress PDF reduces the file size of a PDF by re-encoding it with Ghostscript and downsampling the images inside, at one of four quality levels.
About Compress PDF
Most oversized PDFs are oversized because of photographs and scanned pages, not text. A 30 MB report is usually a handful of full-resolution images that were dropped in at camera size. Compression matters when an email gateway caps attachments at 10 MB, when a job portal rejects anything over 2 MB, or when a form insists on a specific limit before it will accept your upload.
Be clear about the trade-off: image compression here is lossy. Low and medium usually pass unnoticed, while high and extreme visibly soften photographs and scan detail. Text and vector graphics stay sharp at every level, since only the raster images are downsampled. If a file is already well optimised, the compressed version can come out larger — when that happens the original is returned untouched.
How to compress pdf
- Select the PDF you want to shrink, or drop it onto the page.
- Choose a compression level: low, medium, high or extreme.
- Click Compress PDF and wait while the server re-distills the file.
- Download the smaller PDF, or grab all results as a ZIP.
Why use this tool
Four compression levels
Pick low for a light trim or extreme for the smallest file, and compare the reported saving before you commit to it.
Text stays sharp
Only raster images are downsampled. Fonts, tables and vector drawings are re-encoded without resampling, so the document stays readable at any level.
Batch of 25
Send up to 25 files at once, each up to 50 MB, and download everything together once the queue finishes.