Extreme PDF compression: the smallest readable size

Add a PDF and get the smallest file that still reads well. Pick color or black and white, or let the tool decide. Your file never leaves your device.

Colors

Auto keeps photos in color and makes text pages black and white, whichever is smallest.

Processed on your device. Your files are never uploaded.

Related tools

How to use

  1. Add your PDF: tap "choose a file" or drag it onto the box.
  2. Leave Colors on Auto, or pick Color (keep every color) or Black and white (smallest for text documents).
  3. Check how much smaller it got, then tap "Download PDF".

What it does to your PDF

The tool never touches the parts that keep a PDF readable, and squeezes everything else:

  • Text stays text. Typed text, fonts, links and form fields are kept as they are. Only the streams that store them are packed more tightly, which changes nothing you can see.
  • Photos are reduced to about 100 DPI at a clean JPG quality: plenty for reading and printing at normal size.
  • Text pages, scans and drawings become pure black and white at 150 DPI in Auto and Black and white. Letters stay crisp, and a scanned page often shrinks to a tenth of its size.
  • Color keeps every picture in color at the photo floor, for documents where color matters.

What to expect

Results from our test files:

PDF Auto Color Black and white
17-page study notes with text and diagrams, 966 KB 467 KB (52 % smaller), text kept 509 KB (47 % smaller) 467 KB
5-page scanned document with a photo page, 2.7 MB 260 KB (90 % smaller) 545 KB (80 % smaller) 208 KB (92 % smaller)
1-page form with text and a large photo, 1 MB 46 KB (95 % smaller), photo in color – –

Scans and photos shrink the most. A typed PDF with few pictures shrinks less, because its text is already small and is kept exactly.

When to use another page

Frequently asked questions

How does extreme compression work?

The tool shrinks every picture in your PDF down to a quality floor it will not go below, so the result stays readable: photos are kept at about 100 DPI, and pages of text, scans and drawings become sharp black and white at 150 DPI. Real text in the PDF stays real text. You do not type a size; the tool finds the smallest file that respects those floors.

What does Auto do?

Auto looks at each picture. Text pages, scans of documents and drawings become black and white, which keeps letters crisp in very few bytes. Photos keep their color. It then compares this with an all-color result and gives you the smaller file.

Will the text still be readable and selectable?

Yes. If your PDF has real text (it was typed, not scanned), that text is kept exactly as it is: sharp at any zoom and still selectable. Scanned pages are kept at 150 DPI in black and white, which is enough to read normal print easily.

Why did my PDF not get smaller?

Some PDFs are already compact: typed documents without pictures, or files that were compressed before. If the tool cannot make a file at least 5 % smaller without going below its quality floors, it gives the original back and says so.

Should I use this or "compress PDF to 100 KB"?

Use this page when you just want the smallest good-looking file. If a form gives an exact limit, such as 100 KB or 200 KB, use compress PDF and type that number: it aims for the largest file that still fits, so you keep more quality.

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything happens in your browser, on your own device. Your PDF is never sent to our server or anyone else, and the smaller copy has the author name and other document details removed.