How to compress a PDF file

Do you want to publish a PDF on your website but you think it is a bit too heavy for visitors to easily consult? Quiet. There are several solutions that allow you to reduce the size of PDF files in a little while and without altering their content. All you have to do is find the one that best suits your needs and use it to process the documents of your interest.

Obviously do not expect miracles: if a document is already compressed in an optimal way you will not be able to reduce its size by much, unless you decide to significantly reduce the quality and/or resolution of the images present in it, but in this case, I warn you, the result may not be too satisfying for the eyes.

Having made this necessary premise, let’s take action. Take a few minutes of free time and find out how to compress a PDF file thanks to the instructions below. You can use classic software for Windows and macOS or excellent online services that work directly from the browser, not to mention the fact that you can also go to act from smartphones and tablets. I wish you a good reading and a lot of fun!

Index

• How to compress a PDF file for free
  • Acrobat (Windows / macOS)
  • Free PDF Compressor (Windows)
  • ShrinkIt (macOS)
• How to compress a PDF file online
  • Online2PDF
  • PDF Candy
• How to compress a PDF file with Android and iPhone
  • iLovePDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
  • Compress PDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
• How to compress a PDF file into ZIP

How to compress a PDF file for free

Are you interested in understanding how to compress a PDF file for free from your computer, both on Windows and on macOS? Then turn to the solutions for the purpose that you find reported right below. They are very easy to use, even by those who, a bit like you, don’t really consider themselves an expert in terms of technology.

Acrobat (Windows / macOS)

The first tool to compress a PDF file that I want to suggest you use is Acrobat Pro DC. As easily understood by the name itself, it is a distributed Adobe program, the software house that invented the PDF format, which allows you to view and edit the documents belonging to the type covered by this guide. It works on both Windows and macOS and is paid (has a base cost of 18.29 euros/month), but can be tried for free and without limitations for 7 days.

To download the program to your computer, go to its website and click the Try button (7 days). Therefore, activate the trial of the software, by typing the email address of your Adobe ID in the text field on the left (if you do not yet have an Adobe account, you can create one at the moment, following the instructions on the screen), by clicking on the Continue button, entering the relative password and providing the data required for payment.

Then wait for the download of the program to be completed, then install it, following the instructions I gave you in my guide on the subject. Then, launch Acrobat Pro DC by selecting its shortcut in the Windows Start menu or macOS Launchpad. Once the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC window is displayed on the screen, open the PDF you wish to act on by clicking on the File menu at the top left and the Open item attached to it.

Subsequently, to compress a PDF file with Acrobat, click once again on the File menu, choose the Save as another item from the latter and select the PDF with reduced size option. Finally, set compatibility with Acrobat versions, click the OK button and indicate the location on your computer where you want to save the final file.

Free PDF Compressor (Windows)

If you are using Windows, another tool you can use to compress a PDF file is Free PDF Compressor. It is a free program, which allows you to reduce the size of the PDF files that are given to you by optimizing their content. It is extremely flexible, intuitive and keeps all the features of the original documents intact.

To download it to your PC, connect to its website and click first on the Download mirror button and then on the item Click here. Next, open the Free PDF Compressor .exe file and, in the window that opens on the desktop, click the Yes and Next buttons. Then accept the conditions of use of the software, placing the checkmark next to the item I accept the agreement, and complete the setup by clicking in sequence on the Next (four consecutive times), Install and Finish buttons.

Now that you see the main window of the software, click on the Browse button and select the PDF to be processed. Next, locate the Settings section and choose one of the available options: Screen (to create a super-optimized file of poor quality), eBook (to get a well-compressed but slightly higher quality PDF), Printer (to create a well-balanced file between visual quality and weight) and Prepress or Default (to not over-compress the PDF while keeping their quality at the highest levels).

Then press the Compress button, in order to complete the operation. By default, the application saves compressed documents in the same folder as the original ones. If you want to change the path, click in advance on the Save as button and indicate the folder you prefer.

ShrinkIt (macOS)

If you want to compress a Mac PDF file, another solution you can decide to rely on is ShrinkIt. It is a no-cost application for macOS that allows you to reduce PDF files in an almost magical way, simply by dragging the documents into its main window.

To download it to your computer, connect to the program’s website and click on the Download ShrinkIt button. Subsequently, extract the ZIP archive obtained in a position of your choice, then drag the program icon to the MacOS Applications folder, right-click on it and select the Open item from the context menu, in order to start the program but going around the limitations desired by Apple towards non-certified developers (an operation that must be carried out only at the first start).

The rest is almost useless to explain. As already mentioned, all you have to do is drag the PDF you want to act on in the ShrinkIt window that appears. By doing so, a “lightened” copy of the PDF will be created in the same location as the source file.

How to compress a PDF file online

You don’t want or can’t download new programs to your computer and would you like me to explain how to compress a PDF file online? I’ll settle you immediately. In fact, below you will find those that, in my humble opinion, represent the best Web services in the category. Try them now, you will see that you will not regret it!

Online2PDF

The first web service to reduce the weight of PDF files that, in my opinion, you would do well to consider is Online2PDF. It’s free and allows you to edit PDF files by decreasing their weight, merging them, rotating them etc. It has sufficiently wide upload limits: up to 20 documents can be uploaded at a time for a total weight of 150 MB (but each uploaded file cannot exceed 100 MB) and protects users’ privacy by deleting all files within 24 hours of ‘upload.

To use Online2PDF, connected to the home page of the service, click on the Select files button and select the PDF to compress. Alternatively, drag the files you want to act on into the browser window. If you have uploaded multiple PDF files, also expand the Mode drop-down menu at the bottom and select the Convert files separately from this item, so as to avoid all selected files being converted into a single document.

Next, click on the Compression tab located at the bottom left and set your preferences for the quality and resolution of the images in the compressed documents, as well as the color mode of the latter.

Once you have adjusted your preferences, click on the Convert button, wait for your files to be uploaded online and compressed and you will get a ZIP archive containing your PDFs in compressed format. Done!

PDF Candy

You can also compress a PDF file with PDF Candy. It is a free web service and allows you to intervene on PDFs in different ways: converting them, dividing them, lightening them, unlocking them, etc. It has no limitations regarding the maximum weight of the files and the privacy of users is protected, as the documents uploaded to its servers are automatically deleted within a few hours of uploading.

To use it, go to the relevant web page, click on the Add file button and select the PDF you want to act on. Alternatively, drag the file directly into the browser window. You can also download the PDF from your Google Drive or Dropbox account by clicking on the appropriate icons.

Once the upload is complete, choose the degree of compression you prefer from one of the three options in the drop-down menu located in the lower center. Then, click on the Compress button located at the bottom right and wait for the procedure to be completed.

In the new Web page that will then be shown to you, you will find indicated how much the document could be compressed and you can proceed with the download of the output file by clicking on the Download file button. You can also decide to save the compressed PDF obtained on Google Drive or Dropbox, by selecting the icon of the cloud storage service you are interested in.

How to compress a PDF file with Android and iPhone

If you don’t have a computer at hand, you can also compress a PDF file with Android and iPhone (or with iPad, nothing changes), then acting as a smartphone and tablet. To do this, you just have to resort to the use of some special apps, such as those listed below. They are very easy to use, don’t worry!

iLovePDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

An excellent application to reduce the weight of your PDF files directly on the go is iLovePDF. It is at no cost, very easy to use and allows you to make various types of changes to PDFs, compressing them, merging them, converting them and much more. It should be noted that it offers in-app purchases (at a basic cost of 5.99 euros/month) to subscribe to the Premium subscription and thus unlock the extra features offered, such as the ability to fill in and sign documents.

To download the app on your device, if you are using Android, visit the relevant section of the Play Store and press the Install button (if you have a terminal without Play Store, you can get the app from one of the various alternative stores for Android ) . If you are using iOS / iPadOS, on the other hand, visit the relevant section of the App Store, press the Get button, then the Install button and authorize the download via Face ID, Touch ID or password of your Apple ID. Then start the application by tapping on its icon which has been added to the home screen.

Once the main screen of iLovePDF is displayed, go to the Tools section, selecting the appropriate item from the visible menu by tapping the button with the three lines horizontally (on Android) or at the bottom (on iOS / iPadOS), then choose the option Compress PDF, indicate the location from which to take the file to be compressed and the file of your interest, press the Next button and choose the compression level you want to use.

At this point, press the Compress button and wait for the compression procedure to be completed. Finally, touch the Go to file button, press the button with the three vertical dots that you find next to the name of the output file and decide, through the menu that appears, whether to open it, share it in another app etc.

Compress PDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

Another app that you can use if you want to compress a PDF file with Android or if you want to compress a PDF file with iPhone (or iPad) is Compress PDF, which as you can guess from the same name, allows you to act on the weight of PDFs by going to reduce. The only thing to take into account is that it takes 1 hour to complete the compression procedure, regardless of the weight of the source document. To get around this limitation and take advantage of other additional features, you need to switch to the paid version, through in-app purchases (at a cost of 10.99 euros).

To download the app on your device, if you are using Android, access the relevant section of the Play Store and tap the Install button (if you have a terminal without a Play Store, you can get the app from one of the many alternative stores for Android ). If you are using iOS / iPadOS, on the other hand, visit the relevant section of the App Store, tap the Get button, then the Install button and authorize the download via Face ID, Touch ID or password of your Apple ID. Next, launch the app by selecting its icon added to home screen.

Once the main screen of Compress PDF is displayed, if you are using Android, tap the (+) button, select the location from which to take the PDF to be compressed and the document, while if you are using iOS / iPadOS select the location and file directly.

Finally, choose the Free option and wait for the compression procedure to start and finish. Once the process is completed, you will see a checkmark appear in correspondence with the PDF and by pressing on it you can save the returned file in a location of your choice or in another app.

How to compress a PDF file into ZIP

Even compressing a PDF file in ZIP is a good way to reduce the weight of documents belonging to this category, as well as to share them more easily with other users.

The operation can be done from a computer, using predefined Windows and macOS programs or third-party software, but also directly online, as well as from Android smartphones and tablets and from iPhones and iPads, with special apps. For all the details of the case, I refer you to reading my specific guide on how to zip a PDF file.