This rebuilds each page as an image to shrink the file — size drops a lot, but you lose text selection. Works best on scans and image-heavy PDFs.
Make a heavy PDF light. Adjust DPI and quality to reduce the size — right in your browser, no upload.
Click to choose a file Drag a PDF here
PDF file
How to use it
- 1Drag in the PDF you want to slim down, or click to upload it.
- 2Pick a resolution (DPI). 72 DPI is the lightest; 300 DPI stays sharp.
- 3Fine-tune with the quality slider. The lower it goes, the smaller the file.
- 4Hit compress and it shows right away how much lighter it got than the original.
- 5Happy with it? Hit download to save — that’s it!
Handy tips
- The effect is biggest on scans and photo-heavy PDFs. Text-only documents may shrink less.
- For on-screen viewing, 96–144 DPI is plenty. If you’ll print it, go with 200 DPI or higher.
- Because each page is rebuilt as an image, you can’t select or copy the text after compressing.
Why do PDFs get so heavy
Most of a PDF's weight comes from the images inside it. A scanned document is basically a full-page photo on every page, so even if there's barely any text, the file balloons to tens of megabytes. PDFs made from phone snapshots, or slide decks packed with charts and photos, get heavy for the same reason.
A text PDF exported straight from a word processor, on the other hand, stores letters as coordinates and font references, so it's light to begin with. That's why this tool shines on image-heavy PDFs: when the bulk is images, simply redrawing them at a sensible resolution drops the size dramatically.
DPI and quality: a practical numbers guide
Deciding the purpose first makes the numbers easy. For a document you'll only view on screen, 96 DPI at 60–70% quality reads just fine. For something you'll attach to an email or a form, 144 DPI at around 75% is a comfortable balance — text stays legible and the size drops nicely. If you plan to print it on paper, push to 200 DPI or higher and keep quality above 80%.
The two settings work together. No matter how high the DPI, quality set too low will smear the image; and raising quality alone won't help if the DPI is low, since it turns blurry when enlarged. Rather than maxing one out, watch the reduction figure on the result card and nudge both a little until you land where you want.
Hitting an exact upload size limit
Applications and official forms often cap the size — "under 10MB", "under 5MB", and so on. In that case, compress once at 144 DPI and 75% quality, check the size on the result card, and if it's still over, drop the quality by 5% or step the DPI down one notch and hit compress again. A few tries and it slips just under the line.
The knack is to pick the highest quality that still clears the limit, so you don't squeeze so hard the text becomes hard to read. Starting from the original each time means quality loss doesn't pile up, so even several attempts keep the result clean.
Frequently asked questions
No. Compression happens entirely in your browser, so the file is never sent anywhere. Your original stays as is and you just download a new, lighter copy.
A little, but not by much. Since this tool compresses by redrawing each page as an image, a text PDF that's already light may not change dramatically. The effect is biggest on heavy scans and photo-rich PDFs.
The DPI or quality was likely set too low. Start again from the original, raise the DPI to 200 or higher, and keep quality above 80% for much crisper text. Sharpness and size trade off against each other, so nudge them up while watching the result.
It depends on the PDF. Scans and image-heavy documents can drop to less than half, while an already-optimized file may barely change. The reduction percentage shows right after compressing, so you can compare.
No. Since it shrinks the file by rebuilding each page as an image, text selection and copying go away. If you need to search or copy text, keep the original alongside it.
DPI sets how finely each page is redrawn (resolution); quality sets how much that image is compressed. Lowering both makes the file smaller but less crisp.