PDF Tools
Compress PDF
Shrink scanned or image-heavy PDFs by rendering each page at a smaller, optimized size.
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Working…
How to use Compress PDF
- 1
Upload your PDF
Drag a PDF file onto the box — it's analyzed for text vs. scanned content.
- 2
Choose a compression level
Pick smallest file, balanced, or best quality.
- 3
Compress and download
Review the size comparison, then download the compressed file.
About this tool
PDF compression works differently depending on what's inside the file. This tool takes the most reliable browser-based approach: it renders every page as an image at your chosen quality level, then rebuilds the PDF from those optimized images — which produces real, often dramatic size reductions on scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs.
That approach isn't ideal for every PDF, though. If your document is mostly text — like a report or an ebook — rasterizing it into images makes the text non-selectable and non-searchable, and the result can end up larger, not smaller. This tool detects text-heavy pages and warns you before proceeding, so you're never surprised by the trade-off.
Why use it
- Real, significant savings on scanned or photo PDFs
- Three compression levels to balance size and clarity
- Warns you before compressing text-heavy documents
- Shows before/after size comparison
- Processed entirely in your browser, never uploaded
Frequently asked questions
Why does this tool warn me before compressing?
If a document is mostly text, converting it into images to compress it would remove selectable text and could make the file larger, not smaller. The warning lets you make an informed choice.
What kind of PDF does this work best on?
Scanned documents, photo-heavy PDFs, or anything already made of images benefit the most — often shrinking dramatically.
Will the text in my PDF still be selectable afterward?
No — this method rasterizes every page into an image, so any selectable text becomes part of a picture and can no longer be selected or searched.
What if the compressed file is bigger than the original?
This can happen with already-efficient PDFs. The tool will tell you plainly if that's the case, so you can keep the original instead.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere to be compressed?
No, every step — rendering pages, re-encoding, and rebuilding the PDF — happens locally in your browser.