How much size reduction?

Typically 40-70% for image-heavy PDFs, 10-20% for text-heavy ones. Scanned PDFs (all images) compress best.

What gets compressed?

Images (re-encoded at lower quality), embedded fonts (subset), and metadata (stripped). Text content is not touched.

At default settings, barely. For viewing on screen, imperceptible. For high-quality printing, use lower compression or the source files.

Yes — author, creation date, editing history. Also privacy-positive; scanned documents sometimes leak info.

Reduce PDF file size in the browser. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the PDF collection.

PDF files often contain unused objects, duplicate fonts, and uncompressed images — removing these alone can reduce size by 30-60%.
The FlateDecode filter in PDF uses the DEFLATE algorithm (RFC 1951), the same compression used in ZIP files and PNG images.
Gmail's attachment limit is 25MB, and Outlook's is 20MB — PDF compression is often the difference between a sendable and unsendable document.

How much size reduction?: Typically 40-70% for image-heavy PDFs, 10-20% for text-heavy ones. Scanned PDFs (all images) compress best.
What gets compressed?: Images (re-encoded at lower quality), embedded fonts (subset), and metadata (stripped). Text content is not touched.
Will quality be visibly worse?: At default settings, barely. For viewing on screen, imperceptible. For high-quality printing, use lower compression or the source files.
Does it remove metadata?: Yes — author, creation date, editing history. Also privacy-positive; scanned documents sometimes leak info.

Reduce PDF file size in the browser. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the PDF collection.

PDF files often contain unused objects, duplicate fonts, and uncompressed images — removing these alone can reduce size by 30-60%.
The FlateDecode filter in PDF uses the DEFLATE algorithm (RFC 1951), the same compression used in ZIP files and PNG images.
Gmail's attachment limit is 25MB, and Outlook's is 20MB — PDF compression is often the difference between a sendable and unsendable document.

How much size reduction?: Typically 40-70% for image-heavy PDFs, 10-20% for text-heavy ones. Scanned PDFs (all images) compress best.
What gets compressed?: Images (re-encoded at lower quality), embedded fonts (subset), and metadata (stripped). Text content is not touched.
Will quality be visibly worse?: At default settings, barely. For viewing on screen, imperceptible. For high-quality printing, use lower compression or the source files.
Does it remove metadata?: Yes — author, creation date, editing history. Also privacy-positive; scanned documents sometimes leak info.