PDF TOOLS
Compress PDF — Reduce PDF File Size
Shrink a PDF's file size for easier emailing and uploading. Meaningful PDF compression is a heavier, server-side job — this tool is being rebuilt.
Cet outil est en cours de reconstruction
Nous reconstruisons cet outil pour qu'il fonctionne entièrement dans votre navigateur — plus rapide et plus privé. Il revient bientôt.
Compressing a PDF means making the file smaller — easier to email, upload, or store — without dropping any pages. It's a quality-versus-size trade, not a magic lossless shrink, and how much you can save depends entirely on what's inside.
Where a PDF's size actually lives, and why this is being rebuilt
Most of the weight in a large PDF is embedded images, so real compression works by downsampling and re-encoding those images and clearing out redundant data — then rebuilding the document. Doing that reliably is a heavier job that calls for Ghostscript-class tooling running server-side, which can rebuild a file's images and structure far more effectively than a lightweight in-page script.
That's why this tool is being rebuilt rather than pretending to do it instantly on your device — a quick browser trick can't deliver meaningful savings honestly.
- Image-heavy PDFs can shrink dramatically; a document that's already mostly text has little to squeeze.
- Text stays intact — compression re-encodes images, it doesn't remove pages or content.
- Heavily compressed scans and photos may soften; that's the trade for a smaller file.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is compressing a PDF harder than it sounds?
- Because most of a PDF's size is embedded images, and shrinking them well means downsampling, re-encoding, and rebuilding the file — work Ghostscript-class tooling does far better than a browser script. A quick in-page trick can't reliably deliver real savings.
- Does compressing remove pages or content?
- No. Compression only makes existing content lighter, chiefly by re-encoding images. Every page stays; the file just weighs less.