Guide
Compress PDF Online Free
This page is the exact job: shrink a PDF without uploading it. Compress PDF recompresses photos that are already inside the file, or redraws each page as a JPEG when the file is a scan. It is not a general PDF optimizer, and a text-only report often stays the same size.
Quick answer
Open Compress PDF, leave the method on recompress images, choose Balanced, and download only if the page shows a smaller size. Switch to redraw pages when the PDF is a scan and you do not need selectable text.
What actually gets smaller
Photo-heavy PDFs shrink when an embedded JPEG, or a simple color or gray image, can be saved again at a lower quality and a smaller pixel size. The words around those images stay real text, so you can still select and search them.
Many scans stored as JPEG images shrink the same way. Scans stored in formats this browser tool does not decode, including some fax and JPEG2000 images, stay untouched until you choose redraw pages.
What this tool leaves alone
Text, fonts, and vector drawings are not rewritten by the default method, so a contract or a spreadsheet export may not lose a single kilobyte.
Encrypted PDFs are rejected. Images with a transparency mask, CMYK color, or more than one filter are skipped so the page is not damaged. If the new file is not smaller, you get the original bytes back under the original file name.
Which setting to pick
Higher quality keeps more detail and usually saves less space. Balanced is the right first try. Smaller file uses a lower JPEG quality and a smaller maximum image edge.
Redraw pages rebuilds the PDF from a JPEG of each page. Use it for scans and photo packets when selectable text does not matter. Do not use it for a form you still need to search.
Recommended tool
The quickest way to do this task on this site is to use Compress PDF.
Open Compress PDFSteps
- 1.Open Compress PDF.
- 2.Keep Recompress images selected unless the file is a scan you can flatten.
- 3.Choose Balanced, upload the PDF, and read the before-and-after size.
- 4.Download compressed.pdf when the size dropped. If it did not, try Smaller file or redraw pages.
FAQ
Does Compress PDF upload the file?
No. Processing stays in the browser. Confiles does not receive or store the PDF.
Why is there no exact megabyte target?
The result depends on the images already in the file. The tool will not pretend a text PDF can be forced under a size it cannot reach.
Is the smaller file still a PDF?
Yes. Image recompression keeps the same pages and selectable text. Redraw pages is still a PDF, with one JPEG per page.