How to use Compress PDF
- 1
Add one or more PDFs. Drop them on the box or use the file picker.
- 2
Choose a strength. Light keeps print-ready detail, Balanced suits email, Strong gives the smallest file for on-screen reading.
- 3
Press "Compress PDF" and wait while each photo inside is re-encoded on your device.
- 4
Check the size saving shown in the result, then download the file, or a ZIP if you compressed several.
What this tool does
Compress PDF makes PDF files smaller by finding the photographs stored inside them and saving each one again at a lower resolution and JPEG quality. It also packs any uncompressed internal data. Scanned documents from a phone app, brochures and photo reports usually shrink a lot, which helps when a portal accepts only 2 MB or an email bounces for being too big.
Features
- Three strengths. Pick between detail and size instead of guessing at numbers.
- Never worse. If a file can't be made smaller, the original is returned, so you never download a bigger PDF by mistake.
- Batch mode. Compress a whole folder of PDFs in one go and save them as a ZIP.
- Honest summary. See the size before and after, and how many photos were recompressed.
Limits
- Only JPEG photos are recompressed. PNG-style images, CMYK photos, black-and-white scans (CCITT, JBIG2) and fonts are left as they are.
- Password-protected PDFs need to be unlocked first.
- Lossy compression can't be undone: keep your original if you might need full-quality images later.
- Very large files take longer and depend on your device's memory.
Where your file is processed
This tool works in your browser: your PDF is processed on your own device, so it isn't sent to our server for this tool. Some other tools on UtiloNest do use our server, and their pages say so.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my PDF hardly get smaller?
The tool saves space by re-encoding the JPEG photos inside a PDF. Documents made of text, vector drawings or black-and-white fax-style scans have little to gain that way, so the saving is small. If the result would be larger than the original, you get the original back unchanged and the summary says so.
What do Light, Balanced and Strong change?
They set how far photos are scaled down and how much JPEG quality is kept. Light limits the long side of a photo to 3000 pixels, Balanced to 2000 and Strong to 1400, with quality dropping at each step. Smaller photos were never enlarged.
Will the text in my PDF become blurry?
No. Text, fonts and vector graphics are kept as they are, so they stay sharp and searchable. Only embedded photos are recompressed.
Where is my file processed?
In your browser. This tool works on your own device, so the file isn't sent to our server for it.
Can I compress several PDFs at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like; they are processed one after another to keep memory use low, and you can download them together as a ZIP.