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Compress a PDF without uploading it

When a PDF will not fit the mailbox or the form, open Compress PDF. The smaller file is made in the browser you already have open. It is not uploaded to be stored or worked on elsewhere.

When the file will not fit

A mailbox refuses it. A form stops at a size. The usual remedy is a site that takes the file from you and sends a smaller one back.

I would not do that with a contract, a scan of an ID, or a bank statement. For a while, the only copy is sitting on a machine you do not control.

It stays on this device

On Compress PDF the work happens on that device. The privacy page states the same rule. You save the smaller file when it is finished.

You can drop one PDF or several. One preset covers the whole batch. Several files come back in one zip. The limit is the memory of the browser on that machine. There is no account deciding how large a file you may touch.

The four levels

The four levels are not four words for the same thing.

  • Basic is the lossless pass. It cleans the file up and does not rebuild the pictures. Reach for it when the PDF is mostly text and you want less bulk without a change you can see.
  • Balanced is the clear-text pass. It rebuilds the images, which is where a heavy PDF hides its weight.
  • Max is the aggressive cut. It goes further than Balanced, and it does not make the same promise about the words.
  • Strong re-encodes the images already in the file. It does not redraw the page. Leave Strong alone when a diagram or a photo has to stay crisp.

A new file, not a replacement

The download does not take the place of the PDF you started with. That file is still on the device. If Strong went too far on a diagram or a photo, you still have the original, and you can run it again at Balanced or Max. That is the advantage of leaving with a new file. You can compare the two, and you can throw the new one away.

What to do next

When the smaller PDF is ready, the page can send you on to Merge PDF, Split PDF, or PDF to Image. Merge is for putting files together. Split is for pulling pages out. PDF to Image is for when you need the pages as pictures.

A photograph does not need this tool. Shrink the image itself. Wrapping a picture in a PDF and then compressing the PDF is the long way around. If the camera stored a place inside a photo, shrinking does not remove it. That job is Remove EXIF.

How to

  1. Open Compress PDF. Drop one PDF, or several. Multi-file is welcome.
  2. Pick one preset. Basic, Balanced, Max, or Strong. The same preset is used for every file in the batch.
  3. Watch it run. You can see the percent, the file name, and the size before and after.
  4. Download one PDF, or a zip if you dropped several. The file you started with is still on the device.
  5. If the next job is combining, cutting, or turning pages into pictures, go on to Merge PDF, Split PDF, or PDF to Image.