PDF files have been around for a long time and are still a very popular format for sharing documents. But their file size can mount when many pages are running or have heavy graphic elements, which can cause problems when trying to send them.
To help you with that, we've rounded up some free tools that will help you compress a PDF and reduce its size. You can use a downloadable program to accomplish this, but you can also use an online service; we will explore both.
If you have your own free PDF compressor to recommend, please share it in the comments.
Platform: online
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to reduce your PDF files without downloading anything, then Smallpdf is for you. This is an online service that is very easy to use, offering a drag and drop interface and fast compression. Not only can you access it from anywhere because it's online, but it's also platform independent.
Although fairly basic in functionality, there are some cool extra features like the ability to import your file from Google Drive or Dropbox (and save it to the cloud) How to save files from the web directly to cloud storage How to save files from the cloud ) The network's right to cloud storage If you frequently download files from the web and move them to your cloud storage account, you can cut out the middle step with this free service. Read More The only drawback is that you are limited to compressing 2 PDF files per hour, unless you cough up $6/month.
Compression results varied, simply because the system is designed to reduce to 144 dpi without customization for anything else. For example, a 5.72 MB file went down to 3.17 MB, while a 96.98 MB file went down to 87.12 MB. However, if you're just trying to reduce file size with no specific MB goal, Smallpdf is great.
Platform: online
Another online service, and one that offers a bit more precision on file size, is iLovePDF. You can upload a file from your system, Google Drive, or Dropbox, then select one of three compression levels. The more compression you apply, the lower the contents of the PDF will be. However, this also means you'll have a smaller file size.
Using the same 97 MB file above and applying extreme compression, I was able to shrink it down to 50.29 MB, a reduction of nearly half the original size. All the files I uploaded were processed quickly and I didn't find any limits on the number of times I could use the service. Please note that you can only upload a single file at a time.
The files are automatically deleted after an hour or so, though there's probably no reason for this to be a problem, as you can simply save the file to your system or the cloud. If you're looking for more control in an online PDF compressor, along with some impressive file size reductions, check out iLovePDF.
Platform: Windows
This lightweight compressor does what it says on the tin. Although it is not regularly updated, it works fine on Windows 10 and earlier operating systems. If online tools are too basic for you, then this doesn't offer much more, but it does mean you won't have to rely on an internet connection. If you're looking for a deeper feature list, you often have to turn to paid programs.
However, Free PDF Compressor gives you the ability to use one of five presets to shrink your file. Simply select your compression settings, point to the file path where the PDF resides on your system, where it should output, and you're done.
The low resolution option is highly effective; although it obviously hurts the quality a bit, it impressively reduced a 50MB file to 15MB. And it also works quickly when rendering, although I did find it slow at times when files entered triple digit file sizes.
Platform: Windows
If none of these tools are what you need, try checking out PDF Compressor. It is very useful because it allows you to batch compress PDF Compressor:Batch Compress PDF Files Quickly to Save Space PDF Compressor:Batch Compress PDF Files Quickly to Save Space Read More Although the program hasn't been updated for three years, it still works as it should in Windows 10.
The only caveat for PDF Compressor is that it can sometimes be really inefficient in its compression. A 50MB PDF only lost a little over 1.5MB of its file size, which isn't much to write home about. There are compression settings, but only in the paid version. But the program is included here because it can be efficient, it processes very quickly, and the batch function is also untraceable.
Compressing the PDF and altering its quality is one way to reduce the file size, but it's not the only way. For example, you can delete pages Use PDFSam to easily split, merge and rearrange PDF pages Use PDFSam to easily split, merge and rearrange PDF pages in PDFSam, short for “PDF Split &Merge,” is a great utility for quick PDF editing . You can combine multiple PDF documents into a single PDF document, split a PDF into multiple files, extract pages from... Read More MakeUseOf Zip, RAR and more tests What is the best file compression method? MakeUseOf Tests Zip, RAR &More File compression is an important and common task that users often ask their computers. Reducing the size of a file makes it easier to send via email or place on a flash drive. It also reduces bandwidth usage and... Read More For tips and advice on this and more, check out our guide on how to reduce PDF file size Compress PDFs and Reduce File Size with Free Windows Tools and Tricks Compress PDFs and Reduce File Size with Free Windows Tools and Tricks Windows PDFs can be very large. If you ever need to compress a PDF file to email or upload somewhere, you have multiple options. This article provides a summary. Read more.
On the other hand, if you're looking for a few more compression tools or want them to offer more than just PDF compression, like a full-fledged image viewer, our four PDF compression tools 4 Ways to Compress and Reduce PDF Size PDF file 4 ways to compress and reduce the size of a PDF file Are your PDF files too big to handle? You can often drastically reduce the size of your PDF documents. We show you how you can reduce and compress PDF files. Read more article is available.
Do you often need to reduce your PDF files? What free tool do you use to accomplish this?
