File4Edit

Compress PDF

Compress a PDF for free in your browser, with no upload. Keep text recompresses only the images inside, so text stays selectable and links and form fields keep working; Rasterize pages redraws every page as an image, which suits scanned PDFs.

Keep text recompresses the images inside and leaves text, links and form fields as they are. Rasterize pages redraws every page as an image, which suits a scan.

In detail

Compress PDF has two modes, because there are two kinds of PDF. Keep text, the default, is for documents made on a computer. It recompresses the photos inside and repacks charts and screenshots without loss, scaling down any image wider or taller than the size you pick. Pages, fonts, links, form fields and bookmarks are left exactly as they were, so the text stays selectable and searchable. If the result would not be at least 1% smaller, it says so and keeps the original.

Rasterize pages is for scanned PDFs. It renders every page to an image at 72 to 300 DPI and rebuilds the document from those images, which can shrink a scan a long way but leaves no selectable text, links or form fields behind.

Compress PDF at a glance

Input
One PDF (password-protected files cannot be opened)
Output
A smaller PDF: the same document with its images recompressed, or in Rasterize pages, one image per page
What it does
  • Keep text: recompresses images and leaves text, links and form fields alone
  • Largest image side from 1000 px to no limit, with a JPEG quality setting
  • Charts and screenshots repacked without loss
  • A preview of the largest photo at your settings
  • Rasterize pages for scans: 72 to 300 DPI, JPEG or PNG, grayscale
  • Never hands back a larger file in Keep text
  • Processing you can stop part way
Who it is for
Anyone who needs a report, a slide deck or a scan under an email or upload limit.
Limits
  • Keep text shrinks images only, so a PDF that is all text has little to gain; the tool says so.
  • CMYK images, JPEG 2000, fax-coded scans and images with a mask that would have to be resized are left as they are.
  • Rasterize pages turns every page into an image: text can no longer be selected, searched or read aloud, and links, form fields and bookmarks are removed.
  • Any change to a digitally signed PDF invalidates the signature; Keep text warns when it finds one.
Privacy
Runs entirely in your browser: the PDF is never uploaded, and nothing is kept after you close the tab.

How to compress a PDF

  1. Drop a PDF Drop one PDF onto the page. In Keep text, the images inside it are listed with their size and format, and the totals panel shows how much of the file they make up.
  2. Choose a mode Keep text, the default, is for documents made on a computer: it recompresses only the images. Rasterize pages is for scans: it redraws every page as an image.
  3. Set the size and quality In Keep text, pick the largest image side (2000 px by default, or no limit) and the JPEG quality; the preview shows the largest photo re-encoded at those settings. In Rasterize pages, set the resolution, format, quality, grayscale and page range.
  4. Compress and download Press Compress PDF and download the result. Keep text hands back nothing unless the file comes out at least 1% smaller, and each image row says whether it was recompressed or why it was left alone.

Compress PDF: common questions

Will the text still be selectable afterward?

In Keep text, the default, yes. Only the images are re-encoded, so text, fonts, links, form fields and bookmarks are left exactly as they were. In Rasterize pages, no: every page becomes an image, so selectable text, search, links and form fields are gone from the result, which is why that mode is meant for scans.

Why does it say there is nothing to recompress?

Because the PDF holds no images Keep text can shrink. Text and vector drawings are already compact, and images in CMYK, JPEG 2000 or a fax format are left as they are, each with its reason in the list. If the file is a scan, Rasterize pages rebuilds every page as a JPEG instead.

Why is my compressed PDF bigger than the one I started with?

Keep text never hands one back: an image is replaced only when its new version is smaller, and a document that ends up less than 1% smaller is not offered at all. Rasterize pages can come out larger when the source was already efficient; it warns when it does, and a lower resolution, JPEG rather than PNG, or grayscale brings it down.

Can it output WebP, which would be smaller still?

No. A PDF can carry JPEG and PNG images and nothing else, so the photos Keep text rewrites stay JPEG, and the WebP option in Rasterize pages is listed but disabled so the question gets an answer.

Does compressing affect a digital signature?

Yes. Any change to a signed PDF, this one included, invalidates its signature, and Keep text warns when it finds one. Keep the signed original for anything that depends on it.