Compress PDF
Shrink a PDF for email with three honest quality levels โ no size limits.
About this compressor
Three levels โ light, medium, strong โ with before/after sizes shown so you can judge the trade. Scanned documents and photo-heavy decks shrink dramatically; the 25 MB scan that email refuses becomes a 3 MB attachment. No file-size ceilings, no account, nothing uploaded.
The trade-off, stated plainly
This compressor works by re-rendering each page as a JPEG at lower resolution โ the approach that wins on scans, and the honest tool says what that costs: output pages are images, so text stops being selectable and searchable. For a scan, nothing is lost (it was already an image); for a small, text-born PDF, the trade is bad โ the file may even grow, and the tool will tell you so instead of celebrating. The three levels map to real uses: light (150 DPI) survives printing, medium (120 DPI) is the email workhorse, strong (96 DPI) is for when the portal says 2 MB and means it. Compressing a single image to an exact target is compress to size; photos in bulk are the image compressor's job.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my PDF get bigger?
It was a compact, text-born PDF โ re-rendering text as images adds weight instead of removing it. Compression pays on scans and photo-heavy files; the result panel tells you honestly when it didn't.
Will the text still be selectable?
No โ compressed pages are images. That's the trade this method makes, and why the original is worth keeping. For scans nothing changes; they were images already.
Which level should I use?
Medium for email (120 DPI reads cleanly on any screen). Light if it might be printed. Strong only when a hard upload limit forces it โ softness is visible.
Is there a file size limit?
No ceiling imposed here โ processing is on your device, limited only by its memory. Large files just take longer, page by page.