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Compress a PDF

Make a PDF smaller without changing the document: the same pages in the same order, the same size on the page, and text left selectable.

PDFcompressshrinkoptimise

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Files (1–1)
One PDF, up to 100 MB.

Options

Questions people ask
Will my text still be selectable?
Yes. The compressor never re-draws your pages: text stays text, vector artwork stays vector, and page dimensions and order are unchanged. Only large photographs and bitmaps are re-encoded, and only at the balanced and maximum levels. The lossless level changes no pixel and no glyph at all.
What is the difference between the levels?
Lossless re-packs the file structure (stronger stream compression, object streams, unreferenced objects removed) and can save a lot on poorly-packing or uncompressed PDFs; on a well-made file it may change very little. Balanced also downsamples big images to roughly 150 DPI and re-encodes them as JPEG, keeping good readability. Maximum goes to roughly 72 DPI with a stronger JPEG setting, for the smallest file that still works on screen; expect visibly lower image quality and harder-to-read small text inside images.
Why did my PDF come back the same size?
The tool has one honesty rule: it never returns a file larger than the original, and it will not damage a document to pretend otherwise. When no smaller result could be verified for your file, the tool returns your original document unchanged and says so, rather than inventing a saving that is not there. The balanced and maximum levels may still find savings by compressing images.
What if the file still will not fit?
If even the unchanged document is larger than what this deployment may return (its output limit), the tool tells you immediately instead of producing a file the platform would reject: nothing is modified, nothing is half-processed, and the balanced or maximum levels may still shrink it enough.
Is the compression lossless?
Only the lossless level is lossless: it changes no image quality and no content. Balanced and maximum are not: they re-encode images (downsampling and JPEG), so photographs lose some quality on purpose. The tool is explicit about this rather than dressing a lossy setting up as lossless.
What about encrypted or digitally signed PDFs?
Both are refused with a clear message. Password-protected files are never decrypted. Signed documents are refused because compression rewrites the file's bytes and would invalidate every document signature; the file is left intact instead.
What file types are accepted, and how big?
A single PDF, up to 100 MB (scanned paperwork and image-heavy documents do fine). The type is verified by the file's own bytes (a magic-byte check), not by the filename the client sent.
What happens to my files?
The input is removed as soon as processing finishes; your compressed PDF is available for about 10 minutes, then it is automatically deleted. No accounts, no copies beyond that, and the job runs in an isolated, network-less container.