To reduce a PDF’s file size, load it below, pick High, Medium or Smallest and press Compress PDF. The tool redraws every page as a compressed image and rebuilds the file, which can cut a scanned document by 90% or more. The catch is real: in the smaller copy, text can no longer be selected, searched or copied, so keep your original.
The whole job happens in your browser with two open-source libraries, Mozilla’s pdf.js to read the pages and jsPDF to write the new file. Contracts, bank statements and ID scans never leave your device. The tool also tells you plainly when compression does not help, which happens more often than most compressors admit.
When Compression Shrinks a PDF and When It Makes It Bigger
- Works best on scanned PDFs and PDFs full of photos. In our test, a 6.39 MB three-page scan dropped to 419 KB on Medium, a 93.6% saving.
- Text-based PDFs exported from Word or an invoicing app are usually already small. Turning them into images can make them bigger, and the tool will say so and offer your original.
- The compressed copy is image-only: no selectable text, search, links or form fields.
- Password-protected PDFs are not opened. Remove the password in your PDF reader first.
- Your file is processed on your device and never uploaded.
PDF size reducer
Shrink a PDF by turning each page into a compressed image.
Your files stay on your device. Nothing is uploaded.
or drag and drop one PDF file here
Before you compress: the smaller copy is made of page images. Text in it cannot be selected, searched or copied, and links and form fields stop working. Keep your original file.
Original size
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Compressed size
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Saved
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Pages are rendered by your browser with the open-source pdf.js library and rebuilt with jsPDF. Password-protected PDFs need the password removed first.
How to Use the PDF Size Reducer
- Choose your PDF: press Choose a PDF or drop the file on the dashed box. The name and current size appear.
- Pick a level: High quality for anything you might print, Medium for email and portal uploads, Smallest file for documents that will only be read on screen.
- Press Compress PDF: a progress bar counts the pages. Long documents can take a minute on a phone. Cancel stops at the next page.
- Check the result: the tiles show the original size, the new size and the percentage saved. Download the compressed copy, or try a lower level if it is still too big.
What the Three Levels Mean
Each level sets two things: the resolution each page is redrawn at, in dots per inch (DPI), and the JPEG quality used to save it. Page dimensions never change, so an A4 page stays A4 and a sideways page stays sideways.
| Level | Resolution | JPEG quality | A4 page becomes | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High quality | 150 DPI | 80% | 1,240 × 1,753 pixels | Printing, small print, signatures |
| Medium | 110 DPI | 65% | 909 × 1,286 pixels | Email, job and government portals |
| Smallest file | 72 DPI | 50% | 595 × 841 pixels | Reading on a phone or laptop screen |
The pixel sizes come from the page size in points (an A4 page is 595.28 × 841.89 points, and a point is 1/72 of an inch) multiplied by DPI ÷ 72. At Medium, that is 595.28 × 110 ÷ 72 ≈ 909 pixels across.
Our Test Results
We ran the tool on two very different files while building it. The first was a three-page scan, two portrait A4 pages and one sideways page, stored as lossless page images with a line of real text on each page, 6.39 MB in all. The second was a one-page invoice-style PDF of plain text, just 1.4 KB.
| File | Level | Original | Compressed | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three-page scan | Medium | 6.39 MB | 419.3 KB | 93.6% |
| Three-page scan | Smallest file | 6.39 MB | 98.1 KB | 98.5% |
| Plain text PDF | High quality | 1.4 KB | Larger than original | None: original offered instead |
The scan kept its three pages, its page sizes and its sideways page. Its text, however, was no longer selectable, which we confirmed by extracting text from the output and getting nothing back. The text PDF shows the opposite case. A page of real text is stored as a few hundred bytes of instructions and a font. A picture of that page, even a rough one, takes tens of kilobytes. So the tool reported that the result was not smaller and showed a Download original button.
Your own savings will differ. Scans of colourful brochures compress less than black-and-white letters, and a PDF that has already been through a compressor has little left to give.
When This Tool Is the Right Choice
- Scanned paperwork: phone-scanner apps and office copiers often save every page as a large image. These shrink the most.
- Upload size limits: many application forms cap attachments at 1 or 2 MB. Medium usually gets a multi-page scan under that.
- Photo-heavy PDFs: property listings, product catalogues and site reports built from camera photos.
- Files you made from photos: a PDF built from full-resolution phone pictures, for example with our image to PDF converter, will compress well.
When to Use Something Else
Do not use image-based compression on documents people need to search, copy from, sign digitally or fill in. That covers contracts under negotiation, fillable government forms, ebooks and anything a screen reader user will open. For those, re-export the PDF from the program that made it with a smaller image setting, or use a desktop tool that compresses images inside the PDF while leaving the text alone, such as the Reduce File Size option in Adobe Acrobat.
A cheaper fix often sits upstream. If your PDF is big because of the photos in it, resize the photos before building the PDF. Our bulk image resizer can bring a batch of 4,000-pixel photos down to 1,600 pixels in one go, and the PDF you make from them keeps its text if you build it in a word processor.
Password-Protected and Damaged PDFs
If a PDF needs a password to open, the tool stops with a message rather than asking for the password. To compress it, open it in your PDF reader with the password, save or print it to a new unprotected PDF, and load that copy. Bank and card statements in India are often protected this way, typically with a password built from your name and date of birth. If a file is not a real PDF or is damaged, you will see a message saying so, and nothing is changed.
Tips for Better Results
- Start at Medium: zoom in on the smallest print in the result. If it is still readable, you are done. If not, go up to High.
- Keep both files: rename the compressed copy clearly (the tool adds -compressed to the name) and keep the original as your record.
- Use a computer for long files: a 200-page scan needs a lot of memory. A laptop handles it more smoothly than an older phone.
- Compress once: running the output through again rarely helps and loses more detail each time.
Sending a smaller invoice? Bills from our invoice generator are text-based and already light, so they rarely need this step. You can find the rest of our free utilities on the Bizolaunch tools page.
Confidential Files, Copyable Text and Getting Under 200 KB
Is This PDF Compressor Safe for Confidential Files?
Yes. The PDF is read and rebuilt inside your browser. It is not uploaded to Bizolaunch or any other server. Only the two open-source libraries are downloaded, from Cloudflare’s cdnjs.
Why Is My Compressed PDF Bigger Than the Original?
Your PDF is probably made of text and vector graphics, which take very little space. Turning each page into a picture adds weight. When that happens, the tool tells you and offers the original file instead.
Can I Still Copy Text From the Compressed PDF?
No. Every page becomes an image, so text cannot be selected, searched or copied, and links and form fields stop working. Keep the original for those uses.
How Do I Reduce a PDF Below 1 MB or 200 KB?
Try Medium first, then Smallest file. As a rough guide from our test, Medium produced about 140 KB per A4 page of scanned content and Smallest about 33 KB. If you are still over the limit, split the PDF or remove pages that are not required.
Does It Work With Password-Protected PDFs?
No. You will see a clear message. Save an unprotected copy from your PDF reader first, using the password you already have, and compress that copy.
