GXgideox

Compress PDF: Reduce PDF Size Online for Free

Shrink PDF files for email, upload forms and storage. Adjust the compression to balance file size against image quality.

Images shrink, text stays sharp

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File handling: your file is uploaded to our server only to run the job and is not kept for any other use. Process only documents you own or have permission to use. Read the privacy policy.

Why use the PDF Compressor?

Quality slider

Choose a balance between a small file and sharp images, from 40 to 95.

Text left alone

Compression targets images, so text stays as sharp as the original.

Temporary server processing

Your file is used only to do the job and then removed. See the file-handling note under the tool.

Handles big files

Works with scans, photo-heavy documents and portfolios.

How it works

Step 01

Choose your PDF

Drag it in or browse for it.

Step 02

Set the compression level

Start at 80 and lower it in small steps if the file is still too big.

Step 03

Check and download

Compare the new size with the original before you send it.

Compressing a PDF: what shrinks and what does not

The weight is in the images

A page of text is only a few kilobytes. A single photo or scanned page can be several megabytes. When a PDF is much larger than its page count suggests, images are almost always the reason.

Scans shrink the most

A scanned document is a stack of page photos. That is why a 15 MB scan can fall to 2 or 3 MB while a 300 KB text contract barely changes. Check what kind of file you have before expecting miracles.

Common size limits

Gmail’s attachment limit is 25 MB, and many application portals ask for a PDF under a megabyte or two. Aim a little below the limit, because email encoding makes attachments slightly larger than the file on disk.

Picking a setting

Quality 80 to 95 suits documents people will read closely. Around 60 to 70 is fine for drafts, receipts and forms. Below 50, photos begin to look blocky, so only go there when you must.

Keep the original

Compression is a one-way trip. Store the original somewhere safe and send the compressed copy, so you can always produce a better version later.

Over the limit by a little? Try quality 70 first. You often clear it with less visible loss than you would expect.

Frequently asked questions

How do I reduce a PDF so it will send by email?+

Upload the PDF, keep the quality slider near its default of 80, compress and check the size. Gmail’s attachment limit is 25 MB in total, so most files only need a modest reduction. Lower the slider a little if it is still too big.

How can I get a PDF under 1 MB or 2 MB?+

There is no exact target setting, so work in steps. Compress at 80, check the size, and move the slider down in steps of five. A scanned or photo-heavy PDF can shrink a lot. A text-only PDF will not.

Why did my PDF barely get smaller?+

If a PDF is mostly text it is already tiny, because text is stored as compact instructions rather than pixels. The savings come from images, so a file with few of them has little to give.

Will the text become blurry?+

Text stored as text is generally left alone. Compression mainly affects images. A scanned PDF is the exception, since its text is an image, so very low quality settings can make letters fuzzy.

What does the quality slider do?+

It sets how hard embedded images are compressed. High values keep photos close to the original. Low values give smaller files but may show blocky patches.

Should I compress the same file several times?+

Avoid it. Each pass on images adds a little more loss. Keep the original and compress that again with a different setting instead.

Is it safe to compress documents with personal details?+

Files are used only to do the job and removed afterwards, as described under the tool. For highly sensitive documents, such as IDs or contracts, follow your own organisation’s rules.

Is there a file size limit?+

Yes. PDFs larger than 100 MB are not accepted, and very large files take longer.

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