Tool
PDF Compressor
Reduce PDF file size by up to 80%. Three quality levels — pick the right trade-off for your use case.
Pages are converted to images — text won't be selectable in the output. Good for sharing; not for editing.
Drop your PDF here
or click to browse
Compress a PDF in three steps
No software to install. Works in any browser, on any device.
Upload your PDF
Drop or click to upload. The tool shows the original file size immediately.
Choose compression level
Pick light, medium, or heavy compression depending on how small you need the output.
Download the compressed file
Compare the before/after sizes, then download your smaller PDF.
Compression
100% private
Compression runs entirely in your browser. Your PDF never leaves your device.
Three compression levels
Light keeps near-original quality. Heavy maximises size reduction. Pick what your use case needs.
No file size limit
No artificial cap. Compress small or large PDFs — the only limit is your browser's memory.
About this PDF compressor
This tool reduces PDF file size by re-rendering each page at a lower resolution and re-encoding the content as a compressed JPEG. It works on any PDF — scanned documents, reports, presentations, forms — and runs entirely in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.
Maximum compression targets the smallest possible file. It's good for archiving or sharing over slow connections where exact print quality isn't needed. Balanced is the right choice for most situations — significantly smaller, still readable everywhere. High Quality preserves near-original clarity while still trimming file size, ideal for PDFs that will be printed or presented.
If your PDF is already small (under 200 KB) or primarily contains vector graphics with minimal images, compression savings will be modest. The biggest gains come from PDFs that contain photos, screenshots, or scanned pages.
All processing uses PDF.js for rendering and pdf-lib for output. Nothing is uploaded. Nothing is stored.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much can I compress a PDF without losing quality?
It depends on the PDF content. PDFs heavy with high-resolution images can often be reduced by 50-80% at light compression with no visible loss. Text-heavy PDFs with no images compress much less since the text is already efficient. The light mode is generally safe for quality-sensitive documents.
Why is my PDF still large after compressing?
PDFs with embedded fonts, vector graphics, or already-compressed images won't shrink much — the data is already compact. The biggest reductions come from PDFs with embedded high-resolution raster images. If your PDF contains mostly text or vector art, the savings will be modest.
Will compression affect text readability?
At light compression, no — text is stored as vectors and isn't affected by image compression. At heavy compression, images in the PDF may look noticeably softer, but text remains sharp.
Is there a difference between compressing a scanned PDF and a digital PDF?
Yes. Scanned PDFs are essentially images, so compression works very well on them and size reductions are dramatic. Digital (native) PDFs have vector text that doesn't compress the same way — reductions come mainly from any embedded images.