Compress PDF: Reduce PDF File Size
Make a PDF small enough to email or upload, even under 1 MB or 500 KB. Free and private.
In plain words: Choose a quality level or a target size (for example under 1 MB) and download a smaller PDF. The stronger settings turn pages into images, so text can no longer be selected or searched. That is fine for scans, but use Light if you need the text.
โ ๏ธ Pages become images: text will no longer be selectable or searchable. Great for scans and photos. If a lossless clean-up gives a smaller file, we use that instead and your text stays as it is.
How to Use Compress PDF: Reduce PDF File Size
- Drop one or more PDFs. The original size of each is shown.
- Choose Recommended, Strong or Light, or pick Target size and type a limit such as 1 MB.
- Click Compress, compare the before and after sizes, then download each file or all of them as a ZIP.
Get your PDF under the limit
Email attachments, job portals, council websites and visa applications often cap uploads at 1, 2 or 5 MB, and a few phone-scanned pages can easily be 10 MB. WeShoal shrinks the file on your own device so you can send it straight away.
Choose how small
- Recommended (about 150 DPI): clear on screen and fine for printing.
- Strong (about 100 DPI): the smallest files, good for strict email limits.
- Light: tries a lossless clean-up first, which keeps text selectable. If that doesn't save much, it uses high-quality 200 DPI images.
- Target size: type the limit you need, such as 1 MB or 500 KB, and it tries several settings to fit.
How it works, honestly
Lossless clean-up rewrites the file more efficiently. Nothing visible changes, but savings are usually small. Pages as images redraws each page as a JPEG at the chosen resolution. That gives big savings on scans and photo-heavy files, but text is no longer selectable or searchable. WeShoal tells you which method it used, and it never gives you a file bigger than your original.
Scans and photo-heavy PDFs often shrink by 70โ90%. Text-only PDFs are usually small already. Your files never leave your device, and there's no limit or watermark.