Compress PDF — Reduce File Size Free

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Drag & Drop Your PDF Here

Upload a PDF to reduce its file size

📂 Select PDF File

⚙️ Compression Level

Level

⚠️ Browser-based compression works by stripping metadata and resampling images. For maximum compression of text-heavy PDFs, results may be modest. Image-heavy PDFs see the most reduction.

Compressing…

✅

PDF Compressed!

File size reduced.

How to Compress a PDF

Upload your PDF using the tool above. PDF Scanner will analyse the file and let you choose a compression level — Low keeps quality close to the original, Medium balances size and clarity, High gives the smallest file at the cost of some image sharpness.

Once you click Compress, the tool processes your file entirely in your browser. No file is sent to any server. When compression is complete, you'll see the original size, the new size, and the percentage reduction before you download.

PDF Scanner compresses by resampling embedded images and stripping unnecessary metadata. Text and vector graphics are not affected — only raster images are reduced. This makes it safe for documents containing contracts, reports, and typed content.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much will the PDF size be reduced?▼

It depends on the PDF content. Image-heavy PDFs can be reduced by 30-70%. Text-only PDFs may see 5-15% reduction. The compression level you choose also affects the result.

Will compression affect text quality or readability?▼

Text in PDFs is vector-based and is not affected by compression. Only embedded raster images are resampled at lower quality on High compression settings.

Why is my compressed file the same size or larger?▼

This can happen with PDFs that are already highly optimized, contain minimal images, or use specialized compression internally. In these cases, pdf-lib's rebuilding process may produce similar or slightly larger output.