What is this PDF compress tool?
A free, browser-based tool that shrinks a PDF's file size so it's easier to email, upload, or store. There's nothing to install and no sign-up — and because everything runs locally in your browser, your file is never uploaded to a server.
How compression works (and the tradeoff)
Because everything runs in the browser, this tool compresses by rasterizing each page to an image and re-encoding it as a JPEG at the quality you choose, then rebuilding a new PDF. This is a lossy process: it can dramatically reduce size, but the text becomes part of the image and is no longer selectable or searchable. Use the quality slider to balance size against sharpness.
How to compress a PDF
- Upload your PDF by dragging it in or clicking the upload area.
- Set the quality slider — lower means a smaller file, higher keeps more detail. The default (0.6) is a good starting point.
- Press “Compress & download”. The compressed size and the percentage saved appear in the control panel.
Common use cases
- Getting a heavy scanned document under an email attachment size limit.
- Uploading a PDF to a form or portal that rejects large files.
- Saving storage space when archiving image-heavy PDFs.