PandaFileKit

Compress PDF

Shrink a PDF for email or an upload limit. Text-safe first; stronger modes if you need them.

PDF → PDF

Sent to server: 0 B

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Requests that could carry data
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Engine downloads (code, models)
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Counted with the browser's Performance API during the last job. It sees every request the page makes, but not what is inside them, so anything that is not a static download is counted above.

To check yourself: open DevTools → Network, clear the list, run the tool, and inspect each request. None will contain your file. You can also switch to offline after the page loads; tools whose engine is already downloaded keep working.

Drop PDF here

or paste, or choose a file

PDF → PDF

Choose a file, then tune the compression before downloading.

Specific jobsCompress PDF to 2 MBCompress PDF to 100 KBCompress PDF to 200 KBCompress PDF to 300 KBCompress PDF to 500 KBCompress PDF to 1 MBPDF size reducerCompress PDF to 50 KBCompress PDF to 150 KB

Shrink scans and photo-heavy PDFs to fit an upload or email limit

Most oversized PDFs are scans or phone-camera pages, where every page is a full-resolution photo. That is why a bundle of bank statements for a visa file, a scanned passport copy, or a design portfolio gets rejected by a job portal with a 2 MB cap or pushed to a Drive link by Gmail's 25 MB attachment limit. Text-only PDFs exported from Word or Google Docs are usually small already and have little to gain.

  • Getting a scanned application, marksheet or ID copy under a portal's 1 MB or 2 MB limit.
  • Emailing a multi-page scan as a normal attachment instead of a cloud link.
  • Sharing photo-heavy reports, brochures and portfolios over chat apps.
  • Keeping an archive of scanned paperwork without filling your drive.

Start with text-safe, move to a rasterizing mode only if you must

Text-safe is the default. Text and vector graphics are left exactly as they are, so the result stays selectable, searchable and sharp at any zoom. Savings come from tidying the file structure, compressing uncompressed data and re-encoding very large embedded photos when that makes them smaller, so photos may lose a little detail but text never does. It saves the most on PDFs that contain big photos. Balanced, Smaller and Maximum work differently: each page is rendered to an image and stored as a JPEG inside a new PDF. That reliably shrinks scans, but the output no longer has selectable text, clickable links or fillable form fields.

  • Text-safe: the first thing to try for any PDF you might need to search, copy from or sign later. Large embedded photos are re-saved as 80% JPEG, at most 2,400 px on the long edge.
  • Balanced: pages rendered at 90 DPI and saved as 76% JPEG; typed text and most scans stay comfortable to read.
  • Smaller: 72 DPI at 58% JPEG; fine for letters and forms, check small print.
  • Maximum: about 52 DPI at 40% JPEG, only for hard size limits; fine print, stamps and faint signatures can blur.

Why a compressed PDF can come out bigger, and what to check

A PDF that is mostly real text is already compact. Turning its pages into images can make it larger, and the result panel tells you when that happens; keep the original in that case. For scans, size depends mainly on resolution, so a 600 DPI scan may barely change in text-safe mode and needs Balanced or Smaller. Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened, so remove the password in your PDF reader first.

  • Open the result at 100% and 200% zoom and read names, account numbers, totals and signatures.
  • If the recipient needs to search or copy text, stay with Text-safe.
  • Still too large? Delete pages you don't need or split the file, then compress each part.
  • Keep the original until the upload or email has been accepted.

Compress PDF: questions

Why is my compressed PDF bigger than the original?

The file was probably mostly text. Text-based PDFs are already compact, and the stronger modes turn each page into an image, which can take more space than the text did. Use Text-safe for these files, or keep the original. The result panel tells you when the output is larger.

Will compressing make my PDF text unsearchable?

Not in Text-safe mode, which is the default: text stays selectable and searchable. Balanced, Smaller and Maximum render each page as an image, so text, links and form fields no longer work as text.

How do I get a PDF under 1 MB or 2 MB for an application form?

Try Text-safe first. If it's still too big and the PDF is a scan, try Balanced, then Smaller. If it still won't fit, delete pages the form doesn't need, or split the document and upload the parts separately if the form allows it.

Which mode should I use for a scanned document?

Balanced. Scans are already images, so Text-safe can only do so much, while Balanced usually shrinks them a lot and keeps typed text readable. Check small print and signatures at 200% zoom before sending.

Can I compress a password-protected PDF?

No. Open it in your PDF reader with the password, save or print an unprotected copy, and compress that copy.

Is my PDF uploaded when I compress it?

No. Compression runs in your browser on your device, which also means statements and ID copies never pass through a server.