How To Reduce the File Size of a PDF

How To Reduce the File Size of a PDF

So you have a PDF file that’s just a little too big (or really too big!) to send over email. Or upload.

What do you do?

Luckily, there are several ways to compress a PDF file without sacrificing quality:

  • Compress the file using Adobe Acrobat Pro
  • Compress it on your computer
  • Compress the file using an online compression tool.
  • Compress it on WinRAR.

So, there a number of ways to reduce file size, but some methods are more effective than others. Compressing the PDF is often the best way to reduce file size, and there’s more than one way to do it.

If you are sending out a lot of PDFs on a regular basis, you might run into this issue frequently. PDFs, especially from design files, can be quite large. In order for your files not to get too big and also make sure they are easily accessible by everyone who receives them, it’s best if you compress the pdf file size before sending them out.

We come across a lot of large PDFs here, at Content Camel, because there are a lot of one-pager PDFs, datasheets, ebooks, guides, templates, and more even content that customers are organizing.

So we get asked about this a lot as a pro tip.

Below, we’re going to show you how to compress a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Pro and different online tools. We’ll also walk you through the process on Mac OS X and Windows.

How to Compress a PDF File Using Adobe Acrobat Pro

If you want to reduce the size of your PDF files then you can compress them on Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Launch Acrobat Pro and open the Optimize PDF tool.
  2. Choose your PDF and click Open.
  3. Click the Reduce File Size button on the top menu.
  4. Select the compatibility option you want and click OK.
  5. Click Save.

How to Compress a PDF File Online on Adobe Acrobat

There are a number third party tools available online that you can use to compress your PDF files for free. One of them is Adobe Acrobat’s online PDF converter.

Here’s how you can reduce the size of your pdf files online on Adobe Acrobat:

  1. Open ​​Adobe Acrobat in your browser
  2. Drag and drop the file you want to compress OR click select a file
  3. Select the suitable compression level: high, medium, or low.
  4. Enter Compress
  5. Now Download the compressed file.

Tools to Compress PDF Files Online

Much like how Adobe Acrobat compresses your files online, there are other tools that offer the same. All you need to do is upload the PDF and then click on the compress button. The website will compress your PDF and then give you a download link to access your compressed file.

Following are the tools you can use to quickly reduce the size of your pdf files online for free:

  1. SmallPDF
  2. PDFCompressor
  3. iLovePDF
  4. PDF2Go
  5. SodaPDF
  6. FreePDFConvert
  7. Sejda
  8. DocFly
  9. PDFaid
  10. ZonePDF

How to Compress a PDF File on Mac OS X

If you’re using a Mac, there are a few different ways that you can compress a PDF. One way is to use the built-in compression tool in Mac OS X.

Here’s how:

  1. Open the PDF on Preview that you want to compress.
  2. Go to File menu and click Export. (Don’t choose Export as PDF)
  3. Click the Quartz Filter pop-up menu,
  4. Choose Reduce File Size.
  5. Click Save.

How to Compress a PDF File on Windows

There are a few different ways that you can compress a PDF on your Windows computer. One way is to use the built-in compression feature in Microsoft Word or use Adobe Acrobat Pro. You do have an option to pick an online tool to do that but when your files are confidential, you may want to edit them on your local computer.

That’s when you have the following options to choose from

Adobe Acrobat Pro: Follow the instructions provided earlier in the article.

WinRAR: Install WinRAR > right click your file > click compress from the menu and that’s it.

Microsoft Word: Open file in word > open File menu > select compress > and save.

Wrap Up!

PDF files can be large and take up a lot of space, especially if they are filled with images and graphics. Compressing them makes them smaller in size and easier to send or store. By following these steps, you can be sure that your readers will have a smooth experience when accessing your content.

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