PDF tools
Make a PDF smaller
Two honest ways to do it: rewrite the file so the text stays selectable, or re-photograph the pages and shrink a scan by an order of magnitude. It tells you which one got you what.
Drop a PDF here
It is opened in this tab and never uploaded.
How to make a PDF smaller
- Drop the PDF inIt is opened in your browser, not uploaded to a server.
- Pick how hard to squeezeKeep text sharp rewrites the structure and keeps the text selectable. Smallest file re-photographs each page.
- Compress itYou are told the before and after size, including when a file was already as small as it gets.
- Download itStraight from your own machine.
Questions
Is my file uploaded?
No. The PDF is opened, rewritten and saved entirely inside this tab. You can turn off your internet after the page loads and it still works.
Which option should I pick?
Start with “Keep text sharp”. It rewrites the file structure and throws away nothing you can see, so the text stays selectable. If the saving is small and the file is mostly scanned pages, switch to “Smallest file”.
Why did my file barely get smaller?
Because it was already well made. Most of the size in a modern PDF is the images inside it, and “Keep text sharp” does not touch those. A PDF that is mostly text has very little slack in it, and the tool tells you when that is what happened rather than pretending otherwise.
What do I lose with “Smallest file”?
The text layer. Every page is re-photographed at the resolution you choose, so the words become pixels: nothing will be selectable, searchable or copyable afterwards. Links and form fields go too. It is the right choice for a scan and the wrong one for a contract you still need to search.
Is there a file size limit?
Around 100 MB, and that is the browser tab's limit rather than ours. Very large files will also use a lot of memory while they are being rewritten.
Nothing you open here is uploaded. The file is read, converted and saved entirely inside this tab, on your own machine.