How to reduce PDF size

You have to publish some PDF documents online and, not being able to count on a particularly fast connection, would you like to minimize the loading times of the files by compressing them? Well, then I would say that you have landed on the right guide, at a time that could not have been better. In this article, in fact, you will find some software for PCs, online services and apps for smartphones and tablets that, in fact, allow you to reduce PDF sizes without excessively affecting the quality of the original documents.

But I warn you: do not expect miracles! If your files are already well compressed, none of the solutions listed below – and more generally no such tool – will help you. The results that can be obtained largely depend on the initial compression level and the content (text and images) of the source PDF.

Having made this necessary premise, let’s take action! So make yourself comfortable, take five minutes free just for you and concentrate on reading this tutorial. Don’t worry, you won’t have to do anything particularly complicated. All the solutions I am about to suggest to you can be employed by anyone without any kind of problem, you have my word.

Index

  • How to reduce PDF size on PC and Mac
    • How to reduce PDF size with Acrobat
    • How to reduce PDF size with Free PDF Compressor
    • How to reduce PDF size with ShrinkIt
  • How to reduce PDF size online
    • iLovePDF
    • PDF Candy
  • How to reduce PDF size with Android and iPhone
    • iLovePDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
    • Compress PDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

How to reduce PDF size on PC and Mac

Would you like to understand how to reduce PDF size on PC or how to reduce PDF size on Mac and which programs you can use to do so? Then immediately test the solutions useful for the purpose that you find reported right below: they are all incredibly simple to use.

How to reduce PDF size with Acrobat

The first PDF size reduction tool I suggest you consider is Acrobat Pro DC. It is a program from Adobe, which allows you to open and edit PDF files. It is available for 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 on your computer, go to its website and click on the Try button. Then activate the free trial of the program, by typing the email address of your Adobe ID in the appropriate 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, by typing the relative password and providing the data relating to the payment that you are asked for. Then wait for the program download to start and complete.

When the download is complete, if you are using Windows, open the .exe file obtained, click on the Login button in the window that appears on the desktop and log in to your Adobe account, entering the required data. Afterwards, click on the Start installing button. When setup is complete, click on the Login button, to log in with the Adobe ID, and then on the Start trial version button, in order to start the program trial.

If you are using macOS, on the other hand, open the .dmg package obtained and double-click on the Acrobat Pro DC installer icon that you find in the window that is shown on your desktop. Next, type in your user account password on the Mac and click the OK button. Then log in to your Adobe account by clicking on the Login button and providing the required data, then click on the Start installing button and wait for the setup to start and complete.

Once the installation procedure is complete, you will be shown the main window of the program. Then open the PDF file you wish to act on by clicking on the Select a file button.

After completing the above steps, open the File menu located at the top left, choose the Save as other items from it and select the PDF with reduced size option. Finally, set compatibility with Acrobat versions, click the OK button and specify the location on your PC where you want to save the final file.

How to reduce PDF size with Free PDF Compressor

If you are using a PC with Windows installed and want to find out how to reduce PDF size for free, I recommend that you take a look at Free PDF Compressor. It is a software designed specifically for PDF compression, very easy to use and compatible with all versions of the Microsoft operating system. Note that it is particularly effective with text-only PDF files.

To download Free PDF Compressor on your computer, connect to the program website and click on the Download mirror button located on the left.

When the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained and, in the window you see appear on the desktop, click on the Yes and Next buttons. Select, therefore, the item I accept the agreement, click again on the Next button (four times in a row) and then on the Install and Finish buttons, in order to complete the setup.

Now that the Free PDF Compressor window is displayed on the screen, click on the Browse button to select the PDF you want to reduce the size of and choose, from the Settings section, the document compression method: Screen (generates 72 dpi documents exclusively for viewing on-screen), eBook (generates documents at 150 dpi optimized for ebook readers), Printer (generates files at a resolution of 300 dpi also suitable for printing), Prepress (preserves colors more than the Printer profile) or Default (generates PDF at the highest possible quality).

Finally, indicate the location where you want to save the output file by clicking the Save As button and start the compression procedure by pressing the Compress button. At the end of the process, click on the OK and Close buttons and it’s done.

How to reduce PDF size with ShrinkIt

Do you use a Mac? Then you can consider also turning to the ShrinkIt application, specific for macOS and which shines for its disarming ease of use. It has no options to configure: all you have to do is start it and feed it the document to be compressed.

To download ShrinkIt on your computer, then connect to the application’s website and click on the Download ShrinkIt xxx button that you find by scrolling the page.

When the download is complete, 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 that appears, in order to start the program, however, going around the limitations desired by Apple towards non-certified developers (an operation that must be carried out only at the first start).

Now that you see the application window on your desktop, all you have to do is drag the PDF to be processed on it, wait for the software to process the document, replace the original file with its compressed version and create a safety copy ( in non-optimized version) in the same folder.

How to reduce PDF size online

Don’t want or can’t download new programs to your computer and would you like me to tell you how to reduce PDF size online? I’ll settle you immediately. In fact, below you will find those that, in my opinion, represent the best Web services of this type. Try them now, I’m sure you won’t regret it.

iLovePDF

The first online service that I recommend you consider to reduce PDF size is iLovePDF. It allows you not only to compress PDFs, but also to convert them into various types of files, rotate document pages, merge them, split them and much more. The basic version of the service, which is completely free, does not require registration and allows you to process only one file at a time. Its upload limit is a whopping 200MB. Eventually, however, it is possible to subscribe to one of the paid plans (with costs starting from 6 euros/month) to access extra functions, such as increasing the maximum size for uploading files to 1 GB. Furthermore, it should be emphasized how user privacy is protected, as documents uploaded to servers are automatically deleted a few hours after upload.

To use iLovePDF, connect to its home page and drag the document you want to “lighten” into the browser window. Alternatively, you can select the file of your interest “manually” by clicking the Select PDF file button. You can also upload your PDF from Google Drive or Dropbox, by clicking on the relevant icons.

Wait, therefore, for the upload of the file to be completed, then select the level of compression to apply to it, by clicking on the appropriate buttons on the right: Maximum compression (allows you to compress PDFs to the maximum at the expense quality, so you will get “very light” PDFs with grainy images), Recommended compression (maximizes the size of the PDF without affecting its visual quality too badly) and Less compression (puts quality first but generates enough documents ” heavy “).

Once you have made your choice, click the Compress PDF button and wait for the PDF to be processed first and then downloaded in a compressed version to your computer. If the download does not start automatically, you can force it by pressing the Download optimized PDF button. Alternatively, you can save the final file on supported cloud storage services or you can share its link by simply clicking on the appropriate buttons.

PDF Candy

Another online service that you can consider using to compress your PDF files is PDF Candy. It is free and allows you to intervene on PDF documents in various ways, converting them, dividing them, lightening them, unlocking them, etc. There are no limitations as regards the maximum weight of the files and the privacy of users is protected, as the documents uploaded to its servers are automatically removed within a few hours of uploading.

To use it, visit its home page, click the Add File button and select the PDF you want to compress. Alternatively, you can drag the file directly into the browser window. You can also take the document you wish to act on from your Google Drive or Dropbox account, by clicking on the appropriate icons visible on the screen.

Once the upload is complete, choose the degree of compression you want to apply, selecting one of the three options available through the drop-down menu located in the lower center. Then, press the Compress button located at the bottom right and wait for the procedure to be started and completed.

In the Web page that will subsequently open, you will find indicated how much it was possible to compress the document and you can proceed with the download of the output file, by pressing the Download file button. Eventually, you can decide to save the final file on Google Drive or Dropbox, simply by selecting the icon of the cloud storage service of your interest.

How to reduce PDF size with Android and iPhone

Now let’s find out how to reduce PDF size with Android and how to reduce PDF size with iPhone: below you will find those that, in my opinion, represent the best apps for smartphones and tablets that you can rely on to perform the operation covered by this guide.

iLovePDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

As can be easily deduced from the same name, iLovePDF is the mobile app of the online service of the same name that I told you about in the previous lines. It is free, very simple to use and besides allowing you to compress PDFs, it also allows you to perform various other operations on the documents in question. It should be noted, then, that it is possible to subscribe to the Premium version of the service through in-app purchases (at the basic cost of 5.99 euros/month).

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 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 IDTouch ID or password of your Apple ID. Then, start the application, by tapping the Open button that appeared on the screen or by selecting the relative icon that has just been added to the home screen.

Now that you see the main iLovePDF screen, select the Compress PDF option, indicate the location from which to take the file to be compressed, check the box next to the file name, press the Next button and choose the compression level you want to use among Compression ExtremeCompression Recommended, and Low Compression.

Then, click on the Compress button and wait for the compression procedure to be started and completed. At this point, touch the Go to file button, press the button with the three vertical dots next to the name of the output file and decide, using the menu that appears, whether to open it, rename it etc.

Compress PDF (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

Another app that I suggest you take into serious consideration is Compress PDF which, as you can guess from the name itself, allows you to act on the weight of PDFs by going to “lighten” them. It should be noted, however, that the compression requires a wait of 1 hour, regardless of the weight of the document to be processed, to be completed. To get around this limit and take advantage of other extra functions, 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, visit the relevant section of the Play Store and press the Install button. If, on the other hand, you are using iOS / iPadOS, visit the relevant section of the App Store, tap the Get button, then the Install button and authorize the download using Face IDTouch ID or your Apple ID password. Then, start the application by tapping the Open button that appeared on the screen or by selecting the relative icon that has been added to the home screen.

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

At this point, choose the Free option and wait for the compression procedure to be started and completed. When the process is complete, a checkmark will be shown in correspondence with the PDF and by tapping on it you can save the returned compressed file in a location of your choice or in another app.

 

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