Compress PDF
Reduce the size of a PDF so it fits an email or upload limit. TryToPDF resamples embedded images and rebuilds the file structure while leaving text as real, selectable text — not a flattened picture. Compression runs on your device, so the document is never uploaded.
Or drop one anywhere on this page
Nothing uploaded · nothing stored
How to compress a PDF
- 1
Choose your PDF
Drop the file onto the page. TryToPDF reads it locally and shows the current file size and page count.
- 2
Pick a compression level
Recommended suits most documents. Use High for scanned pages where size matters more than image detail, or Low to stay close to the original.
- 3
Compare and download
You see the before and after size with the percentage saved before you commit to the download.
Why use TryToPDF
- Text remains selectable and searchable — pages are not flattened to images
- Before and after sizes shown so you can judge the trade-off
- Three presets, from near-lossless to aggressive
- Runs on your device, so confidential reports never leave it
Where your file goes
Nowhere. This tool runs inside your browser, and the page is served with a policy that forbids it from sending your document anywhere. You can confirm that yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab, and process a file.
Questions
- How much smaller will my PDF get?
- It depends almost entirely on what the file contains. Scanned or photo-heavy documents often shrink by 60–90 percent. A text-only PDF is already efficient and may only shrink slightly, because there is little redundancy to remove.
- Will compression make my text blurry?
- No. TryToPDF compresses embedded images and optimises the file structure, but text is stored as vector glyph data and is left untouched. It stays crisp at any zoom level and remains searchable.
- Can I compress a PDF to a specific size, like 1MB?
- Not with a guaranteed target in this version. Choose the preset closest to your goal and check the resulting size before downloading. If it is still too large, compressing again at a higher level usually helps.
- Is my file uploaded for compression?
- No. The compression engine runs inside your browser in a background worker. Nothing is transmitted, which is why compression also works with your internet disconnected once the engine is cached.
- Why did my PDF barely get smaller?
- Because there was little to remove. Compression works by resampling images and rebuilding the file structure. A document that is mostly text is already stored efficiently, so a small saving is the correct result rather than a failure — and if compressing would have made the file larger, TryToPDF gives you the original back untouched.
- Will compressing remove my bookmarks or form fields?
- No. Bookmarks, form fields, annotations and links are all preserved. Compression rewrites how the file is stored, not what it contains.
- Which level should I use to email a document?
- Start with Recommended. It usually brings a scanned document comfortably under common attachment limits while keeping pages readable. Use High only when you need the smallest possible file and can accept softer images.
- Does it work on scanned documents?
- Yes, and that is where it helps most. A scan is a set of photographs, and photographs are where the size is — scanned files commonly come down by 75 to 90 percent. A text document will not shrink nearly as much, because there is far less to remove.