tigtools

Compress PDF

Choose a PDF and a compression mode, then compare the new size with the original. Everything happens in your browser, and the tool tells you when the result is not smaller.

Runs in your browser No sign-up

or drop it here. The file stays on your device.

How to use it

  1. Choose or drop a PDF file.
  2. Pick Optimise to keep the document exactly as it is, or Strong for the biggest reduction on scanned or image-heavy files.
  3. For Strong, choose a resolution and JPEG quality. 100 DPI at 65% suits on-screen reading.
  4. Select Compress PDF, compare the sizes and download the result if it is smaller.

How it works

Optimise loads the PDF with pdf-lib and saves it again using object streams, a compact way of storing the document's internal objects, and removes the document information and XMP metadata (title, author, creator software, dates). Pages, fonts and images are not changed. Files that were already saved efficiently may not get smaller at all.

Strong renders every page with pdf.js at the chosen resolution, encodes it as a JPEG at the chosen quality and builds a new PDF with one image per page, at the original page size. This works well for scans, photos and presentations exported with large images. For documents that are mostly text, it can make the file larger, because a picture of text needs more bytes than the text itself.

After Strong compression the PDF contains only images: text cannot be selected, searched or read aloud by screen readers, and links, bookmarks, form fields and attachments are gone. Keep the original if you need any of these.

The tool always measures the actual result. If it is not smaller, it says so, and you should keep the original. Password-protected or encrypted PDFs cannot be processed.

Examples

Scanned contract for email

A 12-page scan saved at 300 DPI (about 9 MB) compressed with Strong at 100 DPI and 65% quality usually ends up between 0.8 and 1.5 MB, small enough for most email attachments.

Text report from a word processor

A 30-page text PDF of 400 KB may shrink by a few percent with Optimise. Strong would make it larger and remove selectable text, so the tool shows an increase and you keep the original or the optimised version.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Optimise barely reduce my file?

Optimise does not touch images or fonts, which make up most of a PDF's size. It only stores the structure more compactly and drops metadata. Real reductions need Strong mode, which re-encodes the pages as images.

Can I still select text after Strong compression?

No. Each page becomes a single JPEG image, so there is no text layer any more. If you need searchable text, use Optimise or keep the original.

Which resolution should I choose?

72 DPI is enough for viewing on a phone or quick previews, 100 DPI suits normal reading on a screen, and 150 DPI keeps small print readable and prints acceptably. Higher values produce larger files.

Why is the compressed file bigger?

The original was already efficient, for example a text-only PDF. Images of pages can need more space than text. The tool tells you when this happens so you can keep the original.

Privacy

The PDF is read, rendered and compressed inside your browser. It is not uploaded, stored or included in analytics; only an anonymous event that the tool was used is counted.