Three compression levels
Choose a practical balance between visual detail and output size.
Compress PDF Reduce Large Image-Based Documents
Reduce the size of scanned or image-heavy PDFs with light, balanced, or strong compression. Pages are rendered and rebuilt directly in your browser, with an optional grayscale mode for documents that do not need color.
Source PDF
Review the document details before processing.
No PDF selected yet.
Select an image-based PDF to begin.
Compress Scanned and Image-Heavy PDF Documents
Many large PDFs are collections of full-page images: scanned contracts, photographed receipts, exported slides, portfolios, and pages created from screenshots. These files can be difficult to attach to email or upload to portals with strict size limits. The compressor renders each page at a controlled resolution and stores it as a compressed JPEG inside a new PDF.
Light compression retains more detail, Balanced is suitable for ordinary reading and sharing, and Strong prioritizes a smaller file. Grayscale can reduce size further when page color is not important. The output retains the original page dimensions, so A4, Letter, portrait, and landscape layouts remain proportionally correct.
Important:
pages are rebuilt as images. Searchable text, clickable links, form fields, digital signatures, bookmarks, and accessibility tags are not preserved. Keep the original PDF as your archival copy.
Optional grayscale
Remove color data from paperwork that only needs readable black-and-white content.
Browser processing
Pages are rendered and rebuilt locally without a server-side upload workflow.
How to Compress a PDF
- Select one PDF: the page count and original size appear in the source panel.
- Choose a level: start with Balanced for everyday scans and image-based documents.
- Consider grayscale: enable it for receipts, forms, and text scans that do not require color.
- Name the output: use a filename that distinguishes the compressed copy from the original.
- Compress and download: every page is rendered and placed into a new PDF.
Choosing the right compression setting
Use Light when small text, diagrams, or fine line work must remain clear. Balanced works well for ordinary screen reading and email. Strong is more suitable for large photo scans or upload limits where some softness is acceptable. After downloading, zoom into the smallest important text and verify that it remains readable.
Why Some PDFs Do Not Become Smaller
A PDF containing mostly text and vector graphics may already be compact. Rebuilding those pages as images can remove advanced features without producing meaningful savings. Compression is most effective when the source contains oversized photographs or scans. Very short PDFs also have structural overhead that limits the percentage reduction.
If the result is larger, try Strong compression or grayscale. For documents that must retain searchable text, signatures, forms, or accessibility information, use a dedicated optimizer that can compress embedded images without rasterizing the complete page.
More PDF Tools
Convert images, combine documents, extract pages, or reduce file size without creating an account.
PNG
PNG to PDF
Combine PNG images into a paged PDF document.
JPG
JPG to PDF
Turn photos and JPEG scans into one organized PDF.
WEBP
WebP to PDF
Convert compact WebP images into standard PDF pages.
GIF
GIF to PDF
Place GIF files into PDF pages using the visible first frame.
MERGE
Merge PDF
Join several PDF files in the order you choose.
SPLIT
Split PDF
Extract page ranges or create one PDF per page.
ZIP
Compress PDF
Reduce image-based PDF size with adjustable compression.
PDF Guides
Practical help for merging, splitting, compressing, ordering, and preparing PDF documents.
How to Compress a PDF Without Making Text Unreadable
Reduce an image-heavy PDF to a practical size while protecting small text, diagrams, signatures, barcodes, and scanned details.
Read guide
How to Reduce PDF File Size After Converting PNG Images
Shrink image-based PDFs by fixing oversized sources, empty pixels, duplicate pages, and inefficient page choices.
Read guide
How to Merge PDF Files in the Right Order Without Uploading Them
Combine reports, scans, invoices, and attachments into one correctly ordered PDF while avoiding duplicate, missing, or misplaced pages.
Read guide
How to Split a PDF by Page Range or Into Separate Files
Extract selected pages, divide a long document into useful sections, or save every PDF page separately with a clear naming plan.
Read guideCompress PDF Frequently Asked Questions
Scanned pages, photo collections, and image-based PDFs usually offer the largest savings. Text-only PDFs may already be compact.
Light keeps a higher rendering resolution and JPEG quality. Balanced reduces both moderately. Strong uses a lower resolution and stronger JPEG compression.
No. This compressor renders each page as an image and rebuilds the PDF. Searchable text, links, form fields, and accessibility tags are not preserved.
Some PDFs are already efficiently compressed. Rebuilding a short or mostly vector-based document as images can produce a similar or larger file.
It often helps with scanned paperwork because color information is removed before each page is saved as JPEG.
No conversion upload endpoint is used. Rendering and PDF creation happen in your browser.
Password-protected or encrypted PDFs are not supported by this tool.
Balanced is a practical starting point. Use Light for small text and diagrams, or Strong when attachment limits matter more than fine detail.