Compress PDF

PDF files become large when they contain high-resolution images, embedded fonts, or uncompressed content. Scanned documents at 600 DPI, photos from cameras, and slide decks with many images are common culprits. Compression reduces file size by downsampling images, removing duplicate fonts, and optimizing internal structure.

It depends on the compression level. Balanced compression maintains readability while reducing file size significantly. Text remains sharp because it's vector-based. Image quality may decrease slightly with aggressive compression, but is usually imperceptible for screen viewing. Always preview the compressed PDF before sharing.

Lossless compression reduces file size without losing any data—text and graphics remain identical. Lossy compression achieves higher reduction by removing imperceptible image details. For PDFs, lossy compression affects embedded photos and scanned pages, while text and vector graphics stay lossless.

Yes, but results vary. If the PDF was previously compressed with balanced settings, further compression may yield minimal savings. However, many PDFs have unoptimized images or metadata that can still be reduced. Run compression and check the output size—if savings are under 10%, the PDF is already well-optimized.

Compression results depend on content. Text-heavy PDFs may reduce 10-30%. Image-heavy PDFs (scans, slide decks, photo albums) can shrink 50-90%. Typical reductions: 2MB report → 500KB; 10MB scan → 1-2MB; 50MB photo album → 5-10MB. File size also depends on original image resolution and format.

Standard compression optimizes images and removes redundant objects without deleting content. Metadata (author, title, creation date) is preserved unless you specifically choose to strip it. For sensitive documents, use dedicated metadata removal tools before compression. Text, links, bookmarks, and form fields remain intact.