PDF Compressor
Shrink PDF file size by re-rasterizing each page as JPEG at the quality and DPI you choose. See savings before saving. Browser-only, nothing uploaded.
Drop a PDF here or click to browse
Best for image-heavy or scanned PDFs
What is the PDF Compressor?
A PDF compressor reduces file size by re-rasterizing each page: render to a canvas, encode as a JPEG at a chosen quality, and rebuild a new PDF with one image per page. It works because most PDF bloat comes from oversized embedded images and uncompressed scans. The trade-off is real: text becomes pixels and stops being searchable. For text-heavy contracts that need to stay searchable, keep the original.
How to use the PDF Compressor
- 1
Drop in a PDF
Drag a PDF onto the upload area, or click to browse. The original size shows in the header so you can compare against the result.
- 2
Pick a preset
Low (JPG quality 50, smallest), Medium (75, balanced), High (90, near-original). DPI: 72 saves bytes on screen-only PDFs, 150 keeps print quality, 300 archives but barely shrinks.
- 3
Click Compress
Every page renders via PDF.js, encodes as JPEG, and gets embedded back into a new PDF using @cantoo/pdf-lib. The progress shows page-by-page; large documents take a few seconds per page.
- 4
Compare and download
The result panel shows original size, compressed size, and savings percentage. If the savings are too small or quality looks bad, drop the preset down and re-run before downloading.
Works with
Image-heavy and scanned PDFs (best fit)
- •Phone-camera scans of receipts and contracts
- •Older scans saved at 300 DPI without optimization
- •Real-estate listings with full-bleed property photos
- •Magazine PDFs and design portfolios
- •Hospital and lab records with embedded scans
Email and upload size limits
- •Trim a 30 MB attachment to fit a 25 MB Gmail limit
- •Squeeze a portfolio under a job-application upload cap
- •Compress a tender submission under a procurement portal limit
- •Ship a contract via WhatsApp (16 MB cap) or messengers
- •Fit a financial statement into a CRM file-attach quota
Web and CMS uploads
- •Reduce a brochure before adding it to a Shopify product page
- •Shrink an annual report for a WordPress media library
- •Optimize a case study PDF for a SaaS resources page
- •Trim a price list before adding it to a partner extranet
- •Compress a press kit before publishing on a newsroom
Not a great fit (use a different tool)
- •Searchable text contracts — text streams won't shrink and may grow
- •Vector-based design files exported as PDF — already compact
- •PDFs you'll OCR later — rasterizing twice degrades quality
- •Forms with editable fields — fields are lost after rasterization
- •PDFs with critical accessibility tags — flattening drops them
Frequently Asked Questions
Will text stay searchable after compression?
No. Re-rasterize compression turns every page into a flat JPEG image, which means OCR-style text is lost. Selecting and copying text from the compressed PDF won't work, and accessibility tools (screen readers) will see only images. For text-heavy PDFs that need to stay searchable, this tool isn't the right fit — keep the original or use a viewer's native compression that preserves text streams.
How much smaller will the file get? Why did mine grow?
Depends entirely on the source. Scanned image-heavy PDFs often shrink 60-90% at Medium quality. Text-only PDFs grow — sometimes 10-20× — because rasterizing every page adds image bytes where the original had only compact text streams. Mixed PDFs land in the 30-60% shrink range. The result panel shows the actual change (positive or negative) before you commit to downloading; if it grew, drop your source back into the page and don't compress — there's nothing to gain.
What quality level should I pick?
Start at Medium (75) — it's the visible-but-not-bothersome point for most viewers. Drop to Low (50) only when bytes matter more than fidelity (web upload caps, email size limits). Go High (90) when the PDF will be printed, projected, or zoomed, where compression artifacts would be obvious. Adjust DPI in tandem: 150 covers most cases, 300 only for archival.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. Compression runs through PDF.js + @cantoo/pdf-lib inside your tab — every page is rendered to an in-memory canvas, encoded as JPEG locally, and re-embedded in a new PDF. Open DevTools, switch to Network, and you'll see no outbound request when you click Compress. Safe for sensitive scans, contracts, and medical records.