How to reduce PDF file size

PDFs can get large quickly, especially when they contain scanned pages or high-resolution photos. Many email providers cap attachments at 10 MB or 25 MB, and some upload forms set even lower limits. Reducing the file size lets you send or upload the document without losing the content.

The fastest method: compress the images inside

Most of the space in a large PDF comes from embedded images. The Snapfold Screenshot to PDF tool lets you control quality when creating a PDF from images. Choose Balanced or Smaller file quality when converting, and the resulting PDF will be noticeably lighter.

For existing PDFs

If you already have a PDF you want to shrink, export each page as an image using a PDF viewer (Preview on Mac, Adobe Reader, or a free online tool), then re-create the PDF with the Snapfold tool at a lower quality setting.

How much smaller will it get?

A PDF made from phone photos can shrink by 50 to 80 percent with no visible difference on screen. A PDF that is mostly text will not shrink much, because text takes very little space to begin with.

Will the text still be selectable?

If you create a PDF from images, the text in those images is not selectable — it is part of the picture. For selectable text, you need OCR software such as Adobe Acrobat or the free online tool Smallpdf.