Compress PDF — Reduce PDF File Size Free Online

Often yes, but it depends on the content. Pick the Screen (smallest) preset for the smallest result, and check the before/after size shown in the result panel. Scanned or image-heavy PDFs compress dramatically and usually drop under 100-200KB; text-heavy or multi-page PDFs may not, because they have few images to shrink. There is no fixed byte-target slider, so reduce the page count or split the PDF first if you need to hit a strict government upload limit.

Compress, review and download a standard PDF without creating an account. Premium adds 50 MB uploads and batch work, while Pro raises uploads to 120 MB. Server-processed PDFs are removed under our Security policy.

Drop a PDF, pick a compression level and click Compress PDF. Images inside the PDF are downsampled and re-encoded at the chosen profile, then assembled into a new file. Compare the resulting size and quality before downloading because savings vary by document.

Screen (72 DPI) is best for very large image-PDFs where size matters more than fine detail. E-book (150 DPI) suits text-heavy reports for screen reading. Printer (300 DPI) is the sweet spot for most workflows — print-friendly and email-friendly. Prepress (300 DPI, lighter compression) keeps high-resolution photography intact at the cost of file size.

Text is not turned into pictures, so it stays sharp at every preset; the presets change how far the images inside the PDF are downsampled. Scanned pages are images, so they soften most at Screen. If quality is paramount, choose the Prepress preset or skip compression for that file.

Usually yes. Compression here downsamples the images inside the PDF and does not turn pages into pictures, so live text stays selectable. A scanned PDF has no text layer to begin with, so it stays image-only.

Highly variable: image-heavy PDFs (scanned documents, magazines, brochures) often shrink 80-95% at the Screen preset. Text-only PDFs may not shrink at all, because the source already used efficient text encoding; when nothing smaller is found you get the original file back. The before/after size comparison in the result panel tells you exactly.

Your PDF is uploaded over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, compressed on our secure server, and removed under our Security policy — we do not sell the file or share it with third parties. If your policy requires a file that never leaves your device, use a desktop PDF tool locally instead.

Yes, with Premium. Switch the toggle at the top from Single PDF to batch mode, add your PDFs, pick one compression level and download them together as a ZIP. Without Premium, compress one PDF at a time.

Yes — compress, preview and download the clean standard PDF without creating an account. Premium remains available for larger files, batch work and higher capabilities.

Drop your PDF onto the page, choose one of the four compression levels, then click Compress PDF. The result panel previews the saving and lets you download the clean standard file without creating an account; there is nothing to install.

This tool downsamples the images inside a PDF, so a PDF whose photos are already small or heavily compressed sees only a modest reduction. Try the Screen preset first. If that is not enough, compress the images first: run them through our Compress Image tool, then rebuild or re-export the PDF so the lighter pictures go in from the start.

These are standard print compression profiles: Screen downsamples images to 72 DPI for the smallest file and on-screen viewing, E-book uses 150 DPI, Printer uses 300 DPI for documents you plan to print, and Prepress uses 300 DPI with lighter compression for higher image fidelity.

No. The tool always runs a structural cleanup pass alongside the image re-encoding, compares both results, and returns whichever is smaller — it never hands you back a file larger than your original, even if the source PDF was already lightly compressed.

For emailing a scanned document, use Screen or E-book — 72-150 DPI is plenty for the recipient to read on-screen and keeps the attachment small enough for most inbox size limits. For a file heading to a print shop or press, use Printer or Prepress so photos and fine text stay sharp at real-world print resolution.

Your PDF is uploaded to our servers, where each page is re-rendered and re-encoded at your chosen preset (Screen, E-book, Printer or Prepress) before the smaller file is sent back to you — compression does not happen locally in your browser. The uploaded original and the processed file are both auto-deleted from the server after processing, so nothing is retained beyond what's needed to produce your download.

Yes — Pixoate supports batch and bulk processing. Switch to Batch mode, add up to 60 PDFs on Premium or 200 on Pro, set your options once, and every PDF is processed with the same settings before you download a single ZIP. Bulk processing is a Premium feature; the output uses the same quality and settings as single mode.

Yes — with bulk processing you configure the settings a single time and they apply to every item in the batch — up to 60 PDFs on Premium or 200 on Pro. There is no need to repeat the setup per item, and Temporary uploaded and generated files are processed securely and deleted automatically.

Almost always one of three things. The file is over the 20 MB free upload limit — Premium takes 50 MB and Pro 120 MB. The format is not one this tool accepts, so check the list shown on the upload panel. Or the file is not really the format its name says: renaming a file does not change what is inside it, and that is the reason a valid-looking PDF gets refused.

Page content is preserved, but anything that depended on the original file being interactive can behave differently — form fields, layers and annotations may be flattened into the page depending on the operation you ran. If you need the fields to stay fillable, do the flattening step last. Keep the untouched original until you have checked the output end to end.

Compress PDF supports free standard use within the published processing allowances. Free downloads are clean — no watermark. No signup is required for standard tool use. Photo effects and AI edits have a web-size limit on Free, with the original-resolution result available through Premium or one credit. Crop, resize, rotate, compress and convert stay full size. Premium supports batches of up to 60 files, with the applicable plan limits shown before processing.

No — Compress PDF runs in the browser on desktop and phone. There is nothing to install, no trial to start, and no license to buy before you can see whether it does what you need. Try it on the file you are actually stuck with rather than a sample.

The steps are the same on a Mac and on Windows, in Safari, Chrome or any other browser: upload the file, pick a level and select Compress PDF. That is also how to lower the file size of a PDF on a Mac without exporting from Preview. Check the After size, then download the smaller file.

There is no target-size setting, so the result is whatever the level you choose produces, and it cannot be set to exactly 300 KB. Start with Screen (smallest) for the smallest file and read the After size. If it is still over your limit, split the PDF into smaller parts with Split PDF.

Yes, as separate steps, because Compress PDF only changes the file size. Use PDF Editor to change text, Sign PDF to add a signature, and Annotate PDF to add notes and highlights. For an editable Word file instead, use PDF to Word.

Upload the scanned PDF and try E-book first, then Screen (smallest) if you need a smaller file. Scans are page images, so they shrink the most. Compressing does not add a text layer, so a scan without one stays unsearchable. To add searchable text, build the scan again with Searchable PDF (OCR) in Scan to PDF.

Upload the PDF, pick a level such as E-book, select Compress PDF and read the After size. How much it shrinks depends on what is inside: scans and photo-heavy PDFs shrink most, while a text-only PDF may barely change. If the result is still too big, try Screen (smallest), or split the file into parts.

Compress PDF lowers the resolution of the images inside the file and tidies its structure, so every page stays and the page count does not change. If the file must also be shorter, delete pages with Organize PDF before you compress it.

Compression trades some picture detail for size. Printer and Prepress keep images at 300 DPI, which suits printing, while Screen gives up the most. Text is not turned into pictures, and the result is not larger than the file you uploaded. Check a few pages before you send the result.

Compressing only shrinks the file, so it does not make the text editable. To change the words in the PDF itself, open it in PDF Editor and click a line of text. For a document you can retype in, convert it with PDF to Word. Edit first and compress the finished file last, so the size you check is the size you send.