Guide · 4 min read
How to Compress a PDF
Reduce PDF file size in your browser while controlling quality and image scale.
Why PDFs get large
Most large PDFs are large because of embedded images. Scans, product photos, and slide exports can store images at very high resolution, which inflates the file size.
Compression lowers the image quality and resolution used inside the PDF. Text-only PDFs usually shrink only a little because the text data itself is already compact.
Compress with quality controls
Upload the PDF and choose a quality setting. Lower quality produces a smaller file, while higher quality keeps more visual detail.
Choose an image scale that matches your use case. A scale of 1 keeps the current page size; smaller scales reduce rendering resolution.
Run the tool, preview the result, and download the compressed PDF.
When compression is enough
For email attachments and web uploads, a medium quality setting usually balances size and readability.
If the PDF contains mostly text, keep the quality high and focus on removing unnecessary pages instead.