Compressing PDF files has always been an important part of an office’s workflow. Not only can you save a ton of storage space or hard drive space by compressing and reducing the size of your pdf files, but you can also easily share your data with others by uploading files to the cloud for easy access anytime, as well. There are a lot of ways to compress pdf files, but if you’re looking for a convenient solution, try using one of these programs.
Compress pdf file online: can you compress a pdf file? Yes, in this post we will share guide to shrink a pdf free. In fact, there are different ways to compress a pdf file, whichever is the best method suited for you depends on your own requirement. Then how do you know that the method you apply is good and effective? Certainly, it acts as the important questions to be answered.
We are mobile-geddon and new mobile-first indexing. Compressed PDF is an essential file that every business has. It keeps lots of data within small file size, but it may take lots of time to download when you have a slow internet connection. Also, you may have the experience that some services can not open your compressed PDF files, like Dropbox. So if you are looking for how to compress pdf online for free without any software or plugin on Mac or Windows computer, this article would be extremely useful for you.
How to compress large pdf files online is a very useful article as it explains the method of compressing your files with simple steps to follow. There are many ways for you to do this online like using online compress pdf service, but how can you be sure which one will give you the best results? This article will give you some information about the suitable sites that you could visit in order to make use of their services.
How Do You Make a PDF Smaller?
This is only the start of what you can do with your PDFs. From reading the text within images and scanning files for malware to converting PDFs to other formats and unlocking password-protected PDFs, you can find the perfect PDF tool to help you.
PDFescape
PDFescape is essentially a web access software tool. You can access it through any browser, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and even Opera. If you want, you can also get a desktop, offline version. Once you open the document, you can edit text, images, digitally sign documents, and a lot of other features. The downside of PDFescape is that the interface is overwhelming. There are buttons everywhere.
You can get a desktop version as well. The subscription starts at $3 per month, but that is the basic version. For the Ultimate edition, you might end up paying a lot, like a premium PDF size compressor.
This strange mix of online and offline versions can be pleasant for some, and annoying for others. It depends on your willingness to edit documents in your web browser.
ProsFree online PDF tool. You can create PDF files from different file formats.
ConsComplex interface. Advanced features cost a lot. Free version overwhelmed with ads.
Sejda PDF
Sejda is a simple and intuitive PDF editor. It is as close as you can get to pdf compressor software free. Sejda is a great option for companies that leverage PDF and want something simple, and basic. You can use it to sign documents, add annotations, create interactive forms, and other basic features.
The pricing starts at just $5 per user as a one-time payment. And you can try a free version before you purchase the full software. The free version is limited to three tasks per day. While it is basic software, you still get some unique tools. For example, the breakdown by bookmarks is a feature you can use for desktop and web applications. You can also alternate between two documents, which is a great tool for improving productivity. One of the downsides is that there mixed results for editing options. Sometimes, fonts are changed, and there are no precise edits.
In the end, Sejda is a great software tool that works with phones and tablets but in a limited way. If you do not want to install a dedicated desktop application, Sejda might be what you need and want.
ProsVery easy to use. You can access it online, works right in your browser. You do not have to download software. No registration process. Some unique features. Works on all platforms.
ConsLimited functionality. Pricing for the desktop version is higher than the web version. Mixed results in editing features. Time limit on free online sessions. Limited to three tasks per day for the free version.
Smallpdf
Smallpdf is an online editor with a wide range of conversion options. The software excels in compressing files. But the editing options are limited. Unlike most online tools, SmallPDF is a paid-for-online software. There is no free version. Subscription starts at about $6 per month and can go up if you want a desktop version.
There are different options to work with. But that might look overwhelming and like an illusion. The software lists every single option individually. This makes it look like there are many features, but that is not the case. For example, for conversion only, there are eight individual tools.
The big downside of SmallPDF is the limited editing options. You can only add text and images to an existing PDF. But if you want to edit them, you will have to save the work and open it in a different tool.
ProsLots of conversion options. Cloud-based. Drag and drop functionality. Effective in compressing large PDF files.
ConsNo free version Speed depends on your network, large files can be slow Lacks editing features No mobile application
PDFZilla PDF Compressor Pro
PDFZilla PDF Compressor Pro compresses both native and scanned PDF files with up to 23% compression ratio, fast and easy, on Windows. To give you greater control over the PDF compression process, you are allowed to tinker with the compressing value (compress quality and DPI) for balanced file size and quality.
Also, worry not when you have a ton of documents to compress since this free download PDF compressor can batch process hundreds of PDF files simultaneously. And even if you are working with encrypted PDFs, PDFZilla PDF Compressor Pro can automatically remove the restrictions for you.
Overall, you have a pretty straightforward offline tool that suits even novice users for a convenient process of reducing PDF file size.
Pros:
- Supports batch PDF compression
- Offers a compression ratio of 23%
- Supports encrypted PDFs
- Allows you to pick your referred compress quality
- Fast and easy to use
Cons:
- Windows-only tool
Supported Platforms: Windows
Best for: Fast and easy batch conversion of scanned PDFs with a compression ratio of up to 23%.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is one of the best PDF compressor software considering that it pioneered the PDF format. It presents a very rich PDf compression process that gives you great control over various components. For instance, you get to decide how images (color, grayscale, or monochrome), fonts, and transparency are handled, besides letting you choose what objects and user data to discard from the PDF.
To avoid the hassle of tweaking these options, you can just choose one of the available presets. Also, at the click of a button, you get to optimize and enhance scanned PDFs (quality or size first), not forgetting filters, and the built-in OCR that helps to extract data.
Pros:
- Offers PDF compression presets
- Support partial PDF compression
- Allows you to batch compress PDFs
- Offers custom PDF compression options
- Helps you to optimize PDF scans via OCR
- Delivers high-quality output fast
Cons:
- Pretty pricey
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac, Mobile, Web-based
Best for: A rich and customizable PDF compression process without compromising quality (it balances the file size against the expected quality of fonts, transparency, images, and more).
iLovePDF
iLovePDF is known to present all the tools that PDF lovers and this time boast a reliable online PDF compressor tool. With it, you can compress local files or even directly import PDFs from the integrated Google Drive and Dropbox cloud services.
You are opened up to 3 levels of compression; Extreme Compression (offers high compression but less quality), Recommended Compression (balances between good quality and compression), and Less Compression (outputs high-quality PDFs with little compression).
Even better, you are allowed to rotate the added PDFs as you wish and still have access to batch compression options. For those who may not want to reduce PDF file size online, an offline desktop version of this PDF compressor is also available.
Pros:
- Offers several compression levels
- Batch processing is available
- Available for online and offline use
- Integrates Dropbox and Google Drive cloud services
- Multiplatform
- Strive to optimize PDFs without quality compromise
Cons:
- The free version offers limited features
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac, Mobile, Web-based
Best for: Reducing document file size while optimizing for maximal PDF quality, online and offline.
2pdf.com:
Another great tool to reduce pdf size is 2pdf.com. This tool is very user-friendly and you can complete your task within a few seconds. It doesn’t only compress but you can also merge, convert, and split your PDF files without losing quality.
In just 3 simple and easy steps, you can compress PDF, it is that easy and quick. You just only need to upload your file. In the next step, you need to select the image quality you want, compression and conversion speed, and resolution (PPI), and click on the ‘Compress PDF’ button and your compressed file will be downloaded in a few seconds.
Free PDF Compressor:
This is a simple free tool to download on a Windows computer. It can be downloaded in seconds and has a very clean interface.
At the top, we have a Browse button to find the file that we want to reduce. And below we can tell the program with what quality we want in the resulting document, depending on whether we are going to need it for web publication or printed media.
IrfanView
IrfanView is a lightweight and feature-rich image viewer for Windows. It comes with a range of plugins that turn it into a versatile image editing tool, for example, to convert images to different file types, add watermarks to your photos, and batch process images. It also has PDF printing qualities, though not in the classic sense.
Before you can view PDF files with IrfanView, you need to install GhostScript. Then, when you attempt to Save your oversized PDF as a new and smaller PDF file, you’ll see a PDF Settings window next to your Save PDF As… dialog. Under General, you might have to set the Preview of PDF during save operation to not needed, so you can select settings immediately. Then you can adjust compression settings as seen below.
In my test, I chose medium quality for all image types and could reduce the size of a 10 MB scanned PDF document to less than 1 MB. The result was visibly blurred, but perfectly legible.
Important Criteria
Consider the next criteria when looking for your best comparing app:
- Efficiency like whether the app targets professionals or ordinary users and whether it’s appropriate for the format you’re using.
- User-friendly interface. With the best apps, you work intuitively and don’t need to do extensive research each time you use a new feature.
- Sophistication such as collaboration, sharing, and updates about changes. This also includes any additional features you may think about and which will simplify your life.
- Online version. Choose online tools so you won’t waste your time to make them compatible with your operating system.
Conclusion
Our PDF compressor online application is capable of compressing many large sized and complicated graphics documents, at the same time maintaining their quality.The above advantage allows you to create compressed pdf files with customized settings, consisting of images, fonts, etc.
Over the past years, standard sizes of paper have been reduced, and many people are putting the classic A4 paper out of business. But there is a theory that this shift has something to do with levels of inefficiency in the way we process information. By using the web as a medium to distribute documents, we are reducing file sizes at a rate unmatched by anything else.