Compress PDF
Make PDFs with photos or scanned pages small enough to email or upload. Photos are scaled down and re-saved; text and drawings stay sharp.
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Nothing uploaded
Your files
How to use the Compress PDF
- Add one or more PDF files.
- Choose the compression: Smallest file, Balanced or Best quality.
- Press "Compress". Each file shows its new size and how much smaller it is.
- Download the smaller PDFs, one by one or all together as a ZIP.
Most of the weight of a large PDF is usually its pictures: photos from a phone, or pages from a scanner, stored at a far higher resolution than a screen or printer needs. File Perks finds these pictures inside the PDF, scales the large ones down and saves them again as JPEG at the quality you choose. Text, fonts and vector drawings are not touched, so they stay perfectly sharp and searchable.
Smallest file scales photos to at most 1,200 pixels on the long side, fine for reading on screens and for email. Balanced keeps up to 2,000 pixels, sharp on screen and fine for most printing. Best quality keeps up to 3,000 pixels and only gently reduces the size.
A PDF made mostly of text (a typed letter or an exported spreadsheet) is already compact: there are no large pictures to shrink, and the page says so rather than hand you a file that is no smaller. Every result shows its real size before and after.
Formats and limits
- Opens
- Creates
- A smaller PDF (when the file has photos or scans)
- File size
- Up to 50 MB per file, 20 files (200 MB) at a time
- Processing
- On your device, in your browser
Good to know
- Up to 20 PDFs at a time; 50 MB per file.
- Password-protected or restricted PDFs are not opened here: unlock them first with Unlock PDF if you know the password.
- Photos in CMYK or unusual colour formats are left as they are, so their colours never shift.
- Fonts are not optimised; nearly all of the gain comes from the pictures.
Your files are processed on your own device. They are not uploaded to File Perks or anyone else. Read the Privacy Policy.
Frequently asked questions
Are my PDFs uploaded?
No. The PDF is opened, changed and saved by your browser, on your device. Nothing is sent to File Perks or anyone else, so confidential documents stay with you.
How much smaller will my PDF be?
It depends on the pictures inside. Scans and phone photos often shrink a lot; a PDF of plain text hardly changes. The real sizes are shown for each file.
Will the text become blurry?
No. Only pictures are re-compressed. Text and drawings are kept exactly as they were.
Which level should I choose?
"Balanced" suits most documents. Choose "Smallest file" for email limits and screen reading, and "Best quality" when the photos matter or will be printed large.
My PDF did not get smaller. Why?
It has no large pictures, or they were already compressed. Text-only PDFs are already compact. Try "Smallest file", or keep your original.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. Password-protected or restricted PDFs must be unlocked first (with Unlock PDF, if you know the password).