How to make a PDF smaller
Upload the PDF, choose a preset (Low, Standard, or Extreme), and download the result. Everything happens in your browser: the file is read from your device, compressed in memory, and handed back as a download without being sent to a server.
What the tool actually does to your file
PDFsMint tries two methods and keeps the smallest sensible result. The first is a lossless re-pack of the document’s internal structure, which never changes how a page looks. The second re-renders each page as a JPEG image at roughly 108–144 DPI depending on the preset. The image version is only used when it is at least 5% smaller than the lossless one, and the original is kept if neither is smaller.
- Low — sharpest output, smallest savings. Best for documents you will print.
- Standard — a balance of size and readability for email and uploads.
- Extreme — the smallest files, with visibly softer images. Good for meeting a strict upload limit.
Which PDFs shrink the most
Scanned documents, phone photos of paperwork, brochures, and image-heavy reports usually see the biggest reductions. PDFs exported from a word processor that contain mostly text are already compact, so savings are small and the tool may return the original unchanged.
If your file is still too large for an upload limit
- Try the Extreme preset.
- Remove pages you do not need with Edit PDF or Split PDF, then compress again.
- For a portal that accepts several files, split the document into parts and upload each one separately.
Limitations
Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked before compressing. When the image method is used, text stops being selectable or searchable and links, bookmarks, and form fields are not kept. Files over 50 MB or 150 pages are not supported, because processing happens within your browser’s memory.