Compress PDF

Q: Which compression level should I use?

Start with Standard, which is lossless and keeps the PDF editable and searchable. Use Maximum compression only if you need the smallest possible file and don't need selectable text.

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Compression level

Standard (recommended)
Structural cleanup only — removes redundant data and recompresses streams. Text stays selectable and searchable, and image quality is untouched. Typically 20–50% smaller, depending on the file. Maximum compression
Renders each page as a compressed image, like a scanned document. Can shrink image-heavy PDFs by 90%+, but text is no longer selectable or searchable afterward. Best for PDFs you just need to view or share, not edit.

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⚠️ Limit: File must be under 50MB.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which compression level should I use?

Start with Standard — it's lossless (no quality loss anywhere) and keeps your PDF fully editable and searchable, typically shrinking it 20–50%. If the file is still too large and it's mostly photos or scanned pages, try Maximum compression, which can shrink it dramatically further — but the trade-off is real: the text becomes part of an image and is no longer selectable, copyable, or searchable, similar to a scanned document.

Why doesn't Standard compression save as much space as Maximum?

Standard mode only removes genuine waste — duplicate objects, uncompressed streams, unused data — without touching your actual content. It can't shrink an already-efficiently-compressed high-resolution photo without changing its quality. Maximum mode gets its size reduction by re-encoding every page as a smaller image, which is a real quality and editability trade-off, not a free win.

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything happens locally in your browser using a WebAssembly PDF engine — nothing is sent to a server.