Fits a PDF under a size limit you choose, from 20 KB up to 20 MB. It returns the file untouched if it already fits, tries a lossless rewrite next, and only then redraws pages at the best resolution that fits. It says plainly when a limit cannot be reached. Runs in your browser.
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Process
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Download
Processed in your browser — your file is not uploaded.
Drop your files here
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Up to 1 files
Maximum file size
KB
We aim under 200,000 bytes. Some sites count a KB as 1,000 bytes and others as 1,024, so this passes either check.
Up to 40 pages. A PDF that is already small enough is returned untouched, and a lossless rewrite is tried before anything is redrawn.
How to Use
1Add one PDF by dropping it on the upload area or choosing it from your device.
2Choose a limit with the buttons, or type your own between 20 KB and 20,000 KB.
3Click “Compress PDF to” and wait; the progress bar shows which setting is being tried.
4Read the result under the button. It says how the file was made and whether it fits. Open the download and check small print before you send it.
About this tool
Updated
How it gets a PDF under a limit
Untouched if it already fits, then a lossless rewrite, and only then each page redrawn at the best resolution that still fits.
If the file is already under the limit it is returned untouched, with its text still selectable. If a lossless rewrite gets under, it keeps the pages as they are. Only then does it redraw each page as a picture. It searches settings from 150 dpi down to a 60 dpi floor and keeps the best that fits, and it abandons a setting as soon as the pages alone are over the limit rather than rendering the whole document.
Redrawing turns each page into an image, so text can no longer be selected, copied or searched. Nothing is lost visually that the chosen resolution can show, but anything smaller than that resolution blurs.
How many pages a limit can hold
Divide the limit by the page count to see the budget per page, then compare it with what a page costs at each resolution.
On the same test pages, one page cost about 36 KB at 60 dpi, 59 KB at 72 dpi, 92 KB at 96 dpi, 146 KB at 110 dpi, 194 KB at 130 dpi and 332 KB at 150 dpi, each at the JPEG quality the tool pairs with that resolution. So 100 KB holds about two pages at the floor, 200 KB about five, 500 KB about thirteen and 1 MB about twenty-seven. These are measurements on test pages we built to resemble scanned A4 pages, not on your document. Real pages vary: a mostly blank page costs less than a photo.
The dedicated pages show the measured results for each common limit: 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB and 2 MB.
How readable the result is
The floor is 60 dpi. Below about 84 dpi the page warns you, because small print starts to blur.
On 9-point test text at 100% zoom, 96 dpi was sharp, 72 dpi slightly soft, and 60 dpi clearly blurred though the words were still legible. Digits and small print are less forgiving than words, so check the ones that matter, such as ID numbers. The tool never goes below 60 dpi: past that, the honest answer is that the limit is out of reach, not an unreadable file.
When a limit is out of reach
The page says so, offers the smallest file it could make, and never reports a file as fitting when it does not.
When the budget per page falls below about 36 KB, the limit cannot be met without making the pages unreadable. The options that remain are Split PDF into parts, Delete PDF Pages you do not need, or a higher limit. A text-only PDF can also come out larger when redrawn, since text is tiny as text and large as a picture; in that case the tool returns the smaller of your original and its own result and says which. For a lossless result only, Compress PDF has a mode that keeps text selectable.
We built test PDFs of 1 to 12 scanned pages and fitted each under five size limits. The table shows what is possible, what one page costs at each resolution, and when a limit is out of reach.
PDFs get big for specific reasons. Here is what actually makes them large, what our Compress PDF tool does and does not do, and practical ways to shrink one.
Features
Any limit from 20 KB to 20 MB, with quick buttons for 100 KB to 2 MB
Returns the file untouched if it is already under the limit
Tries a lossless rewrite before redrawing anything
Otherwise redraws pages at the best resolution that fits, from 150 down to 60 dpi
Says plainly when a limit cannot be reached, and gives the smallest file it could make
Up to 40 pages; one PDF per run; runs in your browser
FAQ
Will my PDF be under the limit exactly?
If the tool reports success, yes: the file is at or under the limit. It counts a KB as 1,000 bytes, the stricter reading, so the file passes whether a site counts 1,000 or 1,024. If it cannot get there it says so, and the file it hands back is still over the limit.
Can I still select the text afterwards?
Only if the file was already small enough, or a lossless rewrite was enough. Otherwise each page is redrawn as an image, so the text is part of the picture and cannot be selected, copied or searched.
Why did it say the limit is out of reach?
Because reaching it would need pages drawn below 60 dpi, where ordinary text is hard to read. The tool stops there rather than hand back an unreadable file. On our test pages one A4 page cost about 36 KB at that floor, so the page count decides what is possible.
Why not convert to black and white to save more?
It was tried. On colour-noise test scans it saved under 1%, because the browser’s JPEG encoder already stores colour cheaply, so the option was left out rather than offered with a benefit it does not have.
How long does it take, and is my PDF uploaded?
On our test computer a 3-page scan took about 8 seconds, an 8-page scan about 15, and a 12-page scan 40 to 60 seconds for the larger limits; a phone will be slower. Nothing is uploaded: the PDF is read and redrawn in your browser.
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