Compress PDF
Reduce a PDF's file size. 'Light' rewrites the file and drops unused data with the text left selectable. 'By level' and 'Target size' rasterise each page to a lower-resolution image, which reliably meets a KB limit — the size most government and exam portals enforce. Everything runs in your browser.
Light rewrites the file structure and drops unused objects — small savings, text stays selectable. By level and Target size rasterise each page to an image at a lower resolution: this reliably hits a KB limit (what most government and exam portals want) but the text becomes part of the image. Everything runs in your browser.
How to use it
- Drop in your PDF.
- Pick Light (keeps text), By level, or Target size and enter the KB limit.
- Click Compress PDF.
- Check the before/after and download.
FAQ
- Why does the text stop being selectable?
- To reliably hit a small KB target, each page is converted to an image at a lower resolution. The 'Light' mode avoids this but saves much less.
- Can it always hit my target size?
- Nearly always. If a target is extremely small for a long document, it returns the smallest version it can produce and tells you.
- Is my file uploaded?
- No. Compression runs entirely on your device with pdf.js and pdf-lib.
Related tools
- Merge PDFCombine several PDFs into one file, in the order you choose.
- Split PDFExtract a page range into a new PDF, or split every page into its own file.
- Edit PDF TextChange the words already in a PDF, line by line, keeping size, colour and position.
- PDF EditorAdd text, a signature, images or white-out boxes to any PDF, then download.
- Organize PDFReorder, rotate and delete pages visually, then save a new PDF.
Free to use, no sign-up. Calculations run in your browser — nothing you type is sent to a server. These tools are for general information only, not professional advice. See the full tool list.