Compress PDF
Shrink PDFs by 30–80% with real structural compression and image downsampling — running entirely in your browser. No upload, no signup, unlimited file size.
How to compress a PDF
Three clicks from a bloated scan to a slim, email-friendly file.
- 1
Drop your PDF
Drag and drop a PDF into the dropzone. Files of any size are accepted — there's no upload, just direct local processing.
- 2
Pick a compression level
Choose Extreme (deepest savings, lower image quality), Recommended (balanced), or Less (light optimization). Each tier shows the expected size reduction.
- 3
Compress and download
Hit Compress. The engine restructures the document and downsamples embedded images — all in your browser via WebAssembly. Download the smaller PDF instantly.
Compression tier reference
Pick the tier that matches your destination. Recommended is the right default for most documents.
| Tier | Typical reduction | Quality impact | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less | 5–25% reduction | Visually lossless — preserves print quality | Archival, print, courtroom exhibits |
| Recommended | 30–60% reduction | No visible quality loss on screen | Email, cloud storage, internal sharing |
| Extreme | 60–85% reduction | Aggressive image downsampling | WhatsApp, Slack, mobile attachments |
Why compress PDFs with Editryk
Real engines, real image resampling, real privacy — without sending documents to a server.
Dual-engine compression
Real structural compression and image downsampling — not just object-stream re-encoding.
Three compression tiers
Extreme, Recommended, Less — pick the right balance between size and quality for your workflow.
100% client-side
Compression runs as WebAssembly in your browser. PDFs never leave your device.
Quality preserved where it counts
Text, hyperlinks, bookmarks, form fields, and document metadata all survive untouched.
No file size cap
Compress PDFs of any length, including scanned documents over 100 MB.
Free forever
No signup, no daily quota, no watermark on output, no premium tier.
Who uses an online PDF compressor?
Email senders shrink scanned attachments under Gmail's 25 MB cap and Outlook's 20 MB default without losing readability.
Lawyers and legal teams compress voluminous case files for e-filing systems with strict per-document size caps.
Accountants and finance teams reduce annual report and statement sizes for client portals and audit submissions.
Real estate agents compress property packets and disclosures so they slide through MLS uploads and DocuSign without timing out.
Students and researchers shrink scanned textbook chapters and journal archives for cloud storage and sharing.
Anyone with a scanner scanned documents bloat fast — Editryk's image downsampling typically cuts a 50 MB scan to under 10 MB.
Frequently asked questions
Everything worth knowing before you compress your first PDF.
How much can a PDF be compressed?
Image-heavy PDFs (scanned documents, photo-rich reports) compress 60–80%. Text-heavy PDFs (whitepapers, ebooks) typically compress 20–40%. Already-optimized PDFs may only see 5–15%. Each tier gives an estimate before you commit.
How is this different from other online PDF compressors?
Editryk uses real structural compression and embedded-image downsampling — the same kind of engines server-side compressors use — running in your browser via WebAssembly. Most browser-based compressors only re-encode the PDF object stream; we also resample embedded images for true size cuts.
Will compression hurt the PDF's quality?
Less mode is visually lossless. Recommended is the sweet spot — 50–70% smaller files with no perceptible difference. Extreme aggressively downsamples images and may show softening on close inspection of photographs, but is fine for most office documents.
Are my PDFs uploaded to a server?
No. The compression engine is bundled as WebAssembly and runs entirely inside your browser. Documents never leave your device — safe for legal, financial, and medical content.
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed cap. The dropzone accepts PDFs of any size; the practical ceiling is your browser's RAM. PDFs up to 200 MB are routine; 1 GB+ documents may slow processing.
Will text and hyperlinks survive compression?
Yes. Compression targets the file structure and embedded images. Text remains selectable, hyperlinks remain clickable, form fields remain interactive, and bookmarks remain in place.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Unlock it first using the Unlock PDF tool (you must know the password), then compress the unlocked copy. You can re-protect it afterward with the Protect PDF tool.
How do I compress a PDF for email?
Pick Recommended or Extreme mode. Most email providers cap attachments around 25 MB (Gmail, Outlook); the tool reliably gets typical 50 MB scanned PDFs under that threshold. For tighter targets like WhatsApp's 100 MB document share or a 5 MB CRM upload, use Extreme.
Will digital signatures survive compression?
Signatures become visually intact in the output but are no longer cryptographically valid because the file bytes change. Re-sign the compressed document if signature validity matters for your workflow.
Keep going with related tools
Pair this tool with the rest of Editryk's privacy-first toolkit.
Ready to compress your first PDF?
No signup, no upload, no watermark. Drop a PDF, pick a tier, hit compress.
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