Compress PDF up to 80% smaller
without losing quality
Re-encode images, strip metadata, and prune fonts — in your browser. The output is a real PDF, not a blurred JPEG wrapped in a wrapper.
Product Brochure · Q4
Compress — and see the difference
A real side-by-side view of your file, before and after optimization. No black-box magic.
Compress
Pick the profile — or target a size
Four quality profiles plus two size-targeted modes. Keep searchable text, or flatten to images — you choose the trade-off.
Keep Text & Layoutsearchable
Searchable text stays intact. Best for text-heavy documents.
Mixed Documentsflattens text
Balanced compression for text and images.
Scanned PDFflattens text
Best for scanned pages and image-based PDFs.
Smallest Fileflattens text
Maximum compression. Visual quality may decrease.
Under 5 MB auto-tuneauto
Auto-tunes quality to fit under 5 MB. Useful for email attachments.
Under 10 MB auto-tuneauto
Auto-tunes quality to fit under 10 MB.
Three steps — no upload, no wait
Everything runs in your browser. Drop a PDF, pick a profile, and download the optimized file.
Drop your PDF
Any size, any structure — marketing brochures, scanned reports, image-heavy decks. Files never leave your browser.
Pick a profile
Pick a profile (Keep Text, Mixed, Scanned, Smallest) or target a specific size. Searchable text stays intact on the Keep Text profile.
Download optimized PDF
A real PDF — fully searchable, still vector, still printable. Ready to email, upload, or archive.
When size matters
Real scenarios where shrinking a PDF is the difference between "bounced" and "delivered".
Email attachments
Gmail & Outlook caps attachments at 25 MB. Compress a 30 MB deck to 4 MB and hit send.
Portal uploads
HR portals, tax filings, school applications — many cap uploads at 2–5 MB per file.
Website hosting
Serve brochures, whitepapers, and manuals without bloating your CDN bill or slowing page loads.
Archival storage
Shrink decades of PDFs in batch. Cut cold-storage bills, speed up backups, stay under disk quotas.
Mobile sharing
WhatsApp caps attachments at 100 MB, but most users stop waiting past 3 MB. Compress first.
Print shops
Keep Text & Layout preserves searchable text and high-DPI print quality while removing embedded junk — faster uploads to the printer.
Your PDF never leaves your browser
Parsing, image re-encoding, font subsetting, and PDF writing all happen locally. We don't receive your file — we literally don't have the ability to.
- ✓100% client-side processing with pdf.js + pdf-lib
- ✓Image re-encoding via browser Canvas API
- ✓Works offline once the page has loaded
- ✓No account, no upload, no signup required
Why people switch from Adobe and iLovePDF
A side-by-side look at how PDF Pro's in-browser compressor stacks up against the two tools most people start with.
| Feature | PDF Pro | Adobe Acrobat (online) | iLovePDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the file is processed | Your browser | Adobe's servers | iLovePDF's servers |
| Upload required | No | Yes | Yes |
| File size limit (free) | Unlimited | 100 MB | 200 MB |
| Compression profiles | 5 (incl. target-size) | 3 | 3 |
| Target a specific size (e.g. 1 MB) | Yes | No | No |
| Works offline after first load | Yes | No | No |
| Account required | No | Adobe ID | Optional |
| Free price tier | Unlimited compress | 2 free / day | 1 file / hour |
Limits accurate as of early 2026. Adobe and iLovePDF are trademarks of their respective owners; comparison is based on publicly listed free-tier features.
Compress PDF — common questions
Will compression make my text harder to read?
No — text and vector graphics are kept lossless. Compression only re-encodes embedded images and strips metadata. The default profile keeps images sharp at screen resolution; pick the "High quality" profile if you need print-grade fidelity.
What's the maximum file size I can compress?
There is no hard limit because your file never leaves your browser. We've tested PDFs up to 1.5 GB on a typical laptop. Very large files use more RAM, so close other tabs first if your system is constrained.
Where does my PDF go? Is it uploaded?
Nowhere. Compression happens entirely on your device using WebAssembly. We don't see your file, we don't store it, and we don't have any "view a copy" feature on the back end because there is no back end for compression.
Can I compress to a specific size, like 1 MB or 5 MB?
Yes. Pick the "Target size" profile, type the size you need (in MB or KB), and the compressor iteratively re-encodes images until it lands at-or-below your target. Useful for upload limits like email (25 MB), forms, and government portals.
Why is my compressed PDF only slightly smaller?
If a PDF is mostly text, there isn't much to compress — most of the size in image-light PDFs is already optimized. The biggest gains come from documents with photos, screenshots, scans, or embedded fonts. Try the "Aggressive" profile or convert scanned pages to grayscale.
Can I compress multiple PDFs at once?
Yes — drop several files into the workspace and they compress sequentially using the same profile. Each output downloads as a separate file with the original filename plus a "-compressed" suffix.
Does the compressed PDF still work in Adobe, Preview, and browsers?
Yes. The output is a fully standard PDF 1.7 file. It opens in Adobe Acrobat, macOS Preview, Edge, Chrome, Foxit, and any compliant viewer. Bookmarks, hyperlinks, and form fields are preserved.
Shrink it. Share it. Ship it.
Drop a PDF, pick a profile, and download a file that's up to 85% smaller. No signup. No upload. No wait.