Compress PDF Online

Smart mode keeps text selectable, Rasterize squeezes scans - all processed locally

Your email caps attachments at 10 MB and the upload form at 20 MB, but your PDF is 50 MB? This free tool compresses PDFs directly in your browser with two engines. Smart compression (the default) rewrites the document and downsamples images while keeping text and vector content intact, so text stays selectable and searchable. Rasterize mode renders every page as an image - the biggest reduction for pure scans, but the text is no longer selectable.

The fundamental difference from iLovePDF, Smallpdf, and similar services: no upload. Compression happens entirely on your machine, so there is no waiting for transfers and zero risk of leaking sensitive documents. Even multi-hundred-MB files are fine.

Before/after sizes are shown so you can retry with a different engine or preset. The result downloads as a normal PDF - open it again in the editor if you want to add bookmarks or a watermark next.

How to use

Open the PDF you want to compress
Pick an engine: "Smart (keeps text)" for most files, or "Rasterize (max for scans)" for image-only scans
Pick a quality preset (start with "Balanced")
Wait for local compression and check the size comparison
Download the compressed file

Related guides

How to Compress a PDF Without Losing Its Bookmarks

FAQ

Can I still select and search the text after compressing?

Yes in Smart mode: only images are downsampled and the document is rewritten, so text and vector graphics stay as they were. Rasterize mode renders pages as images, so the text is no longer selectable.

Will compression hurt quality?

It mainly affects images. In Smart mode the presets downsample them to about 300 dpi ("High Quality", the safest choice for printing), 150 dpi ("Balanced", fine for reading on screen) or 72 dpi ("Extreme", for sharing at the smallest size). Try presets to find your balance.

Why is the reduction small on some PDFs?

Compression works best on scans and image-heavy files. Text-native PDFs are already small, so there is less to squeeze - try the other engine or a lower preset.

Is there a file size limit?

No hard limit - it depends on your device memory. Since nothing is uploaded, large files are often faster here than on cloud services.

Are bookmarks kept after compression?

Yes. After compressing, the tool automatically checks the result and migrates the original bookmark outline if the engine dropped it - navigation survives, which many online compressors get wrong.