Is it possible to reduce the size of a PDF file? How to compress a pdf file
Compressing PDF files is not as complicated a process as it might seem at first glance. There are a number of programs with which you can perform these actions easily and quickly. They will be discussed in this article.
Advanced PDF Compressor provides the user with the ability to reduce the size of the required PDF document. Here you can clearly see how much this file has been reduced. Also, thanks to Advanced PDF Compressor, you can convert images into one or more such documents, or group any number of PDF files into one. Significant difference from others similar programs is the ability to create profiles with different settings, which in turn makes it easier for multiple people to use.
Free PDF Compressor
Free PDF Compressor is a free software tool that is only capable of reducing the size of a specified document PDF format. For these purposes, there are several template settings that can be selected based on the required quality. Thus, the user is able to give the PDF file the quality of a screenshot, e-book, and also prepare it for color or black and white printing.
FILEminimizer PDF
FILEminimizer PDF is a simple and easy-to-use program that does an excellent job of compressing PDF files. For these purposes, the user is offered four template options. If none of them suits you, you can use the settings and set your level. In addition, this is the only product that provides the ability to export a compressed document directly to for subsequent sending via e-mail.
CutePDF Writer
CutePDF Writer is a free printer driver that is designed to convert any document into PDF format. In addition, the program is capable of compressing PDF files. To do this, go to additional settings printer and set the print quality to be lower than that of the original. Thus, the user will receive a PDF document with a significantly smaller size.
The article contains the best software tools with which you can significantly reduce the size of the required PDF document. Unfortunately, none of the programs reviewed have been translated into Russian, but despite this, working with them is very simple and convenient. All you have to do is decide which solution to use, because each has its own unique capabilities.
The question of reducing the file size in pdf format is often raised by active computer users. This is due to the large weight of the scanned images. Because of this, the document takes up hundreds of megabytes on disk. Let's look at the problem in more detail.
Using Adobe Reader
You can reduce the size of a document using paid version Adobe programs Acrobat Reader. The compression function is only available at checkout paid subscription. The utility is installed without any problems, so let’s get straight to work.From home menu go to the “File” tab. Click on “Open” and select the document. IN in this example We will use a textbook weighing 69.9 MB. It consists entirely of scanned pages printed edition. You can also open a document by clicking on it in file manager. Go to the menu shown in the screenshot.
Leave the default values in the called window. Select a location to save the compressed pdf. The example file now weighs 33.3 MB. The compression took about two minutes. The quality of the images has deteriorated. This may not be noticeable on a website or computer. However, after printing, the illustrations will be fuzzy or completely blurry. The disadvantage of this method is that there is no flexible setting for an advanced user.
If installation is required additional parameters, then the optimizer will help. Open the document we need. Click on the button shown in the illustration below.
There are few settings, but they look difficult to master. Let's define the main ones. They are located in the left menu “Images”. Downsampling determines the resolution of images. To the right of the parameter you can set ppi (pixels per inch). Highly not recommended for printing. It is recommended when placing illustrations on the site. Below you can set the compression type. ZIP is used for simple images with a predominance of one color. JPEG - for any images. Its improved version is JPEG2000.
After setting, select a location to save the file. Let's compare the quality of the optimized document and the original. Left - original file, on the right - compressed.
Changes in quality are invisible even when the image is enlarged three times.
Using third party software
For the role free analogue PDF Compressor will do.
Intuitively clear interface and the light weight of the program will appeal to any user. In the upper left part of the window, you must click the “Add Files” button to open the document. You can also drag the file directly into the program's work area.
To optimize, click “Start Compression”. The button is located at the top center. First you need to set the compression parameters by clicking the “Compression Settings” button.
After opening the settings menu, you will be notified about purchasing a license. She is needed for fine tuning compression. Click “Continue” and check the boxes in the “Compression” and “Optimization” tabs. Close the window and click “Start Compression”.
During the compression process, the weight of the example textbook decreased from 69.9 MB to 56.9 MB. Let's compare the quality. On the left is the document before optimization, on the right is after.
The result is worse than Adobe Acrobat Reader. There is now noticeable distortion in the compressed file. The advantage of the program is that you can compress the file absolutely free. Consequently - worst quality and larger size. The utility logo is also added to the first page.
Using WinRAR
WinRAR - free program with the possibility of purchasing a license. Designed to place files in an archive and then compress them. The quality does not change. The original can be retrieved from the archive at any time.The utility work area shows file system your computer. Select the folder to create the archive. Click on “Add”. The button is on the left top corner. Here is the archive settings menu.
We are interested in the “Compression method” drop-down list in the “General” tab.
Their names speak for themselves. High-speed, less time-consuming, also has a low compression ratio. Maximum has the opposite characteristics.
Documents are added from the “Files” tab.
The file from the example was compressed in a few seconds. The file weight has changed from 69.9 MB to 68.3 MB. Conclusion: WinRAR does not work well with pdf files. The advantage of the program is that the original is preserved unchanged.
Using the online service ILovePdf
A convenient solution is web services for working with pdf files. ILovePdf can not only edit the contents of a file, but also reduce its size.
We start by clicking the big red “Select PDF files” button. An explorer will open where we specify the path to the pdf document.
After selecting it below, the compression settings will appear. They don't need any comments. Let's leave the recommended parameters. At the very bottom there is a “Compress PDF” button. Let's click on it.
After the compression process we get to new page and press the big red button again.
In the screenshot above we were also informed about changes in document weight. Instead of 69.9 MB, the textbook now weighs 55.9 MB. The result is similar to the result PDF applications Compressor. The difference is that you don’t need to download or install anything. Let's compare the quality. On the left is the optimized document, on the right is the original.
A slight loss of quality is noticeable; it does not affect the perception of information.
Using the SmallPdf online service
This service allows you to download files from Google Drive or DropBox. From a computer, documents are sent through Explorer or by dragging a file into a browser window.
Click on the big red button. To reduce the file size in pdf format, you don't need to click anything. It happens immediately after loading. Then download the document by clicking on the “Download file” button.
From the service, the document can be sent to Google Drive or DropBox (adjacent buttons). The illustration shows the volume of the compressed document. The file size has changed from 69.9 MB to 59.2 MB. Slightly more than the previous service. Let's check the quality. On the left is the compressed pdf, on the right is the original.
SmallPdf was able to compress the file with virtually no loss of quality. The downside of the service is the lack of compression settings.
To conclude, archivers do not work well with PDF documents, and best method compression are online services and standard tool Adobe.
Many PC users are faced with the problem of not knowing how to reduce pdf size document to make it more compact. This article will clear up any doubts you might have about choosing a desktop converter program or an online service to compress a PDF file.
PDF (from Portable Document Format) is a format created by Adobe Systems using the capabilities of the PostScript language. It is platform independent and is designed to represent printing products, documentation and presentations in electronic form.
Documents in PDF format suitable for exchanging information between users around the world.
Advantages of the PDF format:
- cross-platform - the document can be seen as it was created, regardless of the platform;
- compact, supports many information compression algorithms;
- machine independence (it can be printed on a printer and printing unit);
- multimedia (supports videos and audio tracks, hypertext elements, as well as page previews);
- safety. File creators can set security options, including the ability to lock (open, edit, or print after entering a password).
You can open a PDF document using free version Adobe Reader or plugin available in most browsers. IN Google Chrome this format is supported even without installing the plugin. Editing a PDF file is possible in the paid version of the program Adobe Reader. Many programs have also been developed for this format and converting documents from it.
PDF files may include photographs, text information, forms, etc. The appearance of the displayed document does not depend on the type of platform: in Windows and Mac OS it will look the same both on the screen and when printed.
Why do you need to compress PDF files?
The size of a PDF file often reaches tens of megabytes due to the volume and abundance graphic elements. This can cause difficulties when sending files by e-mail or when placing them in cloud storage.
Let's consider free tools to compress a PDF file and reduce its size: online services, as well as applications for Windows.
Are you looking for a way to PDF compression-document? From our article you will learn how to reduce the size of a PDF file and choose the appropriate option.
Using converters
CutePDF will allow you to convert a printable file into PDF and reduce it to the required size.
Install CutePDF by downloading it for free from the official website. First, the document should be opened in a program that supports the PDF format, with the ability to print. It is better to do this in Adobe Reader or Microsoft Word. Click on "File" and then "Print".
When opening the window with settings for printing, select CutePDF Writer from the list of printers.
Hover your mouse over “Printer Properties”, in the window go to “Advanced” and make a choice in what quality its contents will be displayed. To compress a file, set a quality level lower than the original document. Click on "Print" and then save to PDF.
Adobe Reader Pro DC
First, open the document in Adobe Acrobat DC, click on “File” in the menu, “Save as another” and then on “File in reduced size PDF format”.
Then you need to select programs from the drop-down list with which the document is required to be compatible. If you focus your attention on latest version, you will have the opportunity to compress the file as much as possible, but there is a risk that the recipient will not be able to open it in older versions of the program.
After clicking "OK", wait for the compression procedure to complete, and then you can save the file to the desired location.
It is advisable to use the same method if the file is located on " Google Drive e”, and you need to download it, first reducing the size.
Go to Google Drive, double-click on the PDF file you want to compress, and then on the printer symbol to open the print screen.
In the new window that will open in front of you, select Adobe PDF in the drop-down list. By clicking on the “Properties” button, you will see a new window in which you should go to the “Paper and Print Quality” tab, and then to the “Advanced” button at the bottom of the window.
Select the file quality in the drop-down list, click “OK” at the bottom of the window, then “OK” in 2 more windows. Save the document on your computer.
Microsoft Word
How to reduce pdf file size using Word and Acrobat?
This method consists of converting a file from format 1 to format 2, and then converting it back.
First, you should open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat, in the “File” menu, click on “Save As”, “Select another folder”, specify the file type “*.docx” and the location where it will be located on the PC. After clicking the “Save” button, open the document in Word, select “File” and “Save as Adobe PDF”.
PDF Compressor
WITH using PDF Compressor can reduce a PDF file for publication on a website, on a social network and for sending by e-mail. This service will not reduce document density (DPI); clarity is maintained when scaling and printing.
By clicking on the “Download” button, you can select up to 2 dozen files. You can drag them to the download area and wait for the processes to complete. Download compressed documents by clicking on their icons, or all files as a ZIP archive.
Archiving
For the file to take smaller volume on a PC, you can archive it using one of popular programs: WinRAR or 7Zip.
To compress a document using 7Zip, hover the right mouse button over the file and the left mouse button over the 7Zip line, select “Add to “file_name””, and the archive will appear on the screen. Before compression begins, you can specify some characteristics by selecting “Add to archive.”
Using an archiver, you can compress a file or create an archive of several documents, which will make it easier to send them by e-mail. Before sending the archive to the recipient, you need to check whether he has this archiver installed.
Online converters
Smallpdf online service
This service is simple in functionality, but has additional features: Import a document from Dropbox or Google Drive and then save it to cloud storage after completing the online compression procedure.
IN this service produced pre-setting to compress a file up to 144 dpi, therefore different compression rates are possible. For example, a file whose size is 6 Megabytes can be compressed 2 times, and the quality will not decrease.
But it happens that a file whose size is 100 megabytes will be compressed to 88 megabytes due to the use of elementary file size reduction algorithms.
iLovePDF
You can upload a document to iLovePDF from your own PC, as well as from cloud service Dropbox or Google Drive, and then select the compression level. The higher the compression ratio used, the worse quality output file. A 100 MB file with maximum compression is compressed to 50 MB.
PDF files are quickly compressed for free, without restrictions on using the service, with automatic deletion from the service within an hour. The limitation of the service is to download 1 file at a time.
Free PDF Compressor
This program is not regularly updated, but it works perfectly on Windows 10, Windows XP, etc. If online tools are not available, Free PDF Compressor can be useful.
Free PDF Compressor will give you the opportunity to choose 1 of 5 presets for compressing a PDF file. Specify the parameters, the path to the saved file and select “Compress”.
PDF optimization
You can open the document in Adobe Acrobat. By clicking on “File” in the menu, click on “Save as Other”, and then on “Optimized” PDF file».
In the PDF Optimization window, click on Estimate Space Usage. After its implementation, you will understand what and by how much percent you can compress. Then you should close the window by clicking “OK” and select compression characteristics. Using left button mouse, click on the selected compression level, and on the right change the characteristics to achieve the required level of quality.
You can delete photos, convert them to black and white, compress them, change resolution, change fonts, etc., and then save the document to the desired folder.
Please note that many conversion and compression programs can be downloaded for free on official websites.
Choose a program or online service based on your needs for the quality and degree of document compression.
When choosing the format version in which you save the file, make allowances for the fact that the recipient may not have latest version program and, therefore, he will not be able to access the document you sent.
Conclusion
On many modern PCs the size hard drives amounts to several terabytes. However, every megabyte is valuable if you need to quickly transfer a file by email or post it on the Internet. We hope that you found all the information you needed about compressing a PDF file, and you were able to use our recommendations.
Why compress a PDF file at all? I understand, pictures, videos that weigh tens, if not hundreds of megabytes, the same music. They need to be squeezed. In fact, files also need to be compressed, because in some cases they can be more than a couple of kilobytes. This often applies to books and large articles with pictures.
Fast compress file PDF document can be sent by mail, where the downloaded file size is set to a fixed size. When uploading to your website or other resource where you want to save space. There are many options for why this should be done, so in the article I will reveal all the known methods.
How to compress PDF online using services
Compressing a PDF document via the Internet is the most popular and convenient way. There are many services to carry out the process, which I will describe in this article. Here we go?
pdfcompressor.com
The resource may not be the best, but working with it is easy and convenient. To load a document into the resource window, just move it there, or click the button "Download" and select a file on disk. Suppose I take a book on computer architecture that is 19 MB in size. Now I’ll upload it to the site and see how efficiently it compresses the document.
As a result, the book shrank by 49%, almost doubled, which means its size is now 9.7 MB.
Compressing PDF format is not the only thing that can be done on the resource. It also converts images and ODT type to PDF format, PDF conversion V DOC format and vice versa, the same thing with HTML, PUB, ePub. Lack of service in slow loading large file to the server, so you need to be patient and wait if you decide to compress the file to 100 MB.
ilovepdf.com
The next PDF compression option is the ilovepdf.com service. Also popular, but that’s not important to us, is it? You, as a user, are interested in the effectiveness of this service. We'll check it now.
Having visited the resource, you have two methods of uploading a file to the server - click the button "Select PDF file" or drag it there. I choose the same book about computer architecture weighing 19 MB. 3 compression options immediately appear in the window - low compression, recommended And extreme. Depending on the type you choose, the quality of the document will either not be affected or will suffer more. Let's try extreme compression.
We are waiting for the PDF file to download and the compression process to begin. According to my observations, loading occurs at a low level. Approximately 60-70 Kb/s, my Internet is not shit, which means this is a limitation of the service itself.
As a result, the document shrunk by 50%, as in the previous case and its size was 9.4 MB. We can conclude that ilovepdf.com and pdfcompressor.com cope with their task almost equally. It's up to you to choose which one is more convenient. By the way, the components of the document were not damaged, that is, images and text.
In addition to the ability to perform the process that we are currently implementing, the resource can do the following useful things:
- Merge and split PDF files;
- Compress PDF;
- Convert PDF to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, JPG and vice versa;
- Insert watermarks into the file;
- Remove security passwords;
- Flip the document at any angle;
- Downloading files from Dropbox clouds and Google Drive.
Please note that an unregistered user can upload a file up to 160 MB; after registration, you can upload files up to 200 MB.
smallpdf.com
Almost no different from previous services, but who knows, maybe smallpdf.com can compress pdf better? This is what we will find out now.
I upload the book document in PDF format to the resource and wait for the process to complete. The result was almost identical to the previous ones - 9.6 MB.
Now compressed file can be downloaded to your computer or saved to . By the way, the functionality of the service has the same capabilities as all other sites.
jinapdf.com
Right now I'm without unnecessary words I upload the book file to the jinapdf.com server. I hope that this compressor will be better than other options.
The result was much worse than the others: with 19 MB we were able to achieve compression of up to 17.4 MB. Therefore, I will not use this option.
Additional tools can be found on the website:
- Convert PDF format to Word, Text, JPG and vice versa;
- Convert image to text;
- Merge PDF;
- PDF extraction;
- PDF Splitting.
In short, nothing new and all services are eerily similar to each other.
pdfio.co
You can upload a document from a cloud computer or via a link, or by drag-and-drop. After downloading, wait a little and look at the result.
So, the beautiful and pleasant interface gave us the worst result - 18.2 MB. Probably worse could be the lack of any compression.
You can compress a pdf without losing quality, to do this you need to select “Low compression”, or slightly degrade the image quality by selecting the option “ High degree compression."
In addition to the “unique” functions that the resource has, you may have noticed the “Online text recognition” item. On top panel There are image compression options, various converters and converters from MP4 to GIF.
pdf.io
A very simple website with big button "Select a file" with which you need to select a PDF document. There are options for downloading from the cloud or via a link.
IN in this case I managed to compress the PDF by 37%, maybe someone will have a better result, I can’t say. Rather it depends on the document.
You can download the file to your computer or upload it to Dropbox or Google Drive.
pdf2go.com
Last hope guys. I move on to the last service on this list and voice my verdict. Then I'll move on to programs.
The result is 17.48 MB.
The conclusions are obvious, only the first two services from the list provide normal tools for compressing PDF files.
How to compress a PDF file using programs
Using programs is less convenient, since you need to find a worthwhile option, download and install. Luckily, I've put together a few options that are on par with their online service brethren.
Adobe Acrobat
Famous viewer PDF documents. For those who don’t know, you can use it to save a document at a reduced size. To do this, go to “File”, select “Save as Other” and click on the “Reduced PDF File” option. This feature is only available in the paid version.
To view PDF is better Total . I consider this the most convenient utility, but I did not find a compression function there.
Most effective method, compress a document of our format - run it into online tools, which I described above, and then compressed using an archiver, for example, .
Let's say I already have a compressed file. The same book in PDF format. I click on it right click mouse for calling context menu and select the option 7-ZIP > Add to archive.
In the settings you set the same parameters as mine. You can play around, maybe you will achieve better results.
I achieved the following size after compression into the archive - 9.66 > 8.54. Not very much, but sometimes that's enough.
We looked at a bunch of methods on how to compress PDF online or using programs. In fact, I did not consider some utility options here, since there is a lot of hassle with them. From all of the above, we have come to the conclusion that the most effective method compressions are:
In this tutorial we will learn how to compress a PDF file different ways and with different quality (respectively different sizes PDF file)
Our task: reduce the size of an existing PDF file in order to send it by mail or if we simply need a smaller document size.
What we have in stock: the actual PDF files themselves or the file that needs to be reduced in size.
What we get at the end:
In our case, I suggest using online services for working with PDF files (i.e. all manipulations with PDF files will take place on the websites of the services we need).
From the large abundance of services and sites, I would recommend 2 of them, with the help of which we will reduce our PDF files to minimum size with maximum compression or up to “decent” compression but maintaining normal quality photos in a PDF document.
So, I present 2 services for working with PDF files: and . In principle, one service would be enough (SMALLPDF.COM), but the PDF-DOCS.RU service has something that I will talk about a little later in this lesson;)
SMALLPDF.COM
Let's start with the SMALLPDF.COM service. By clicking on the link above we will see something like this:
This service has an intuitive interface, in my opinion, it won’t be difficult to figure it out, and you won’t be able to get lost in the functions. Therefore, in our case, this is an excellent solution to our mini-problem.
Let’s say we have a “compress PDF” folder and it contains all the files or one PDF file that needs to be reduced in size (I have 1 PDF file in the folder):
To compress required file PDF, click the “Select file” button:
After selecting the PDF file we need, the file selection window will close and the service will begin manipulating the PDF file. The next thing we will see is the process of preparing and compressing the PDF file:
After passing the “100% Loading” stage, the page will refresh and we will see a block with the result of compressing our PDF file “big_file.pdf”:
From this data we learn that our original file “big_file.pdf” is compressed by 71% ( good result) and that now it “weighs” 2.84 MB, and was originally 10.14 MB. Below we are offered a link to download the already modified file:
Click “Download PDF” and the download of the compressed PDF file will begin:
Finally, in our “compress PDF” folder there are 2 files - an uncompressed file “big_file.pdf” and a compressed PDF file “small_file.pdf”:
With this service for compressing PDF files “SMALLPDF.COM” the lesson is completed, let’s move on to the next service with its distinctive capabilities “PDF-DOCS.RU”.
PDF-DOCS.RU
So it goes to . At the time of writing this lesson “Compressing PDF files” home page this service looked something like this:
Why did I choose this resource to solve our problem: in this service we can achieve higher compression ratio of PDF file compared to SMALLPDF.COM, but also the quality of photos and pictures in final file PDF (compressed) will be noticeably worse accordingly.
Let's start using the service. What we have at the initial stage: 1 PDF file in “raw”, uncompressed form:
First, we need to indicate to the service the PDF file that we want to compress. Click on the “Select file” button:
As a result of this, a new window will open in which we will specify the path to the PDF file. In our case, this is the “compress PDF” folder and the file located in it “big_file.pdf”. Next, we need to set the compression level of the PDF file; for this, there is a special field in the “PDF-DOCS.RU” service:
We click on this field (I highlighted it in the figure above), we are asked to choose from three options the degree of compression of the PDF file:
In our case (for maximum PDF compression) we use the item “ best compression" Now all parameters for compression are configured, click the “Forward!” button. and the service will begin downloading our source file and compressing it:
After clicking the button, the service will begin its work and a message will appear while the work is being completed:
After some time, after the “PDF-DOCS.RU” service has completed all necessary work above the compression of the PDF file, we are informed that the compression has been successfully completed:
Based on the data presented, we see that our compressed PDF file now weighs only 1.7 MB. This, in my opinion, is a very good result in terms of the quality of the drawings in the PDF file.
Now we need to download our compressed PDF file. To do this, click on the link below in the “Download file:” field. In our case, the link to the file will be called “new-314_big_file.pdf”, click on this link to download the file:
Clicking this link will begin the process of downloading the PDF file. In some cases, depending on the browser and settings you are using, clicking on the download link may cause it to open in the browser. If the file opens in a browser, simply save it to your computer.
As a result of our manipulations to compress the PDF file, we have 2 PDF files in the “compress PDF” folder:
As we can see, the source file weighs only 1.7 MB, which is very convenient for sending by email or uploading to a server.