How do I compress a PDF to under 2 MB?

Leave the target switch on, enter 2 MB, and compress. Settings are tried from best downward and it stops at the first that fits — so you get the best quality that meets the limit, not the worst.

Will the text still be selectable?

No. Pages are rasterised, so text becomes part of the image. That is what makes scans shrink so far. For a text PDF that is a poor trade, and those files are usually small to begin with.

Is my PDF uploaded to a server?

No. The file is opened and processed by your browser, on your machine. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and the tool still works — which is the simplest way to prove it to yourself.

What DPI should I choose?

300 for printing, 150 for on-screen reading, 96 for email. Below 72 text becomes hard to read.

Does it work offline?

Once the page has loaded, yes. Nothing further is fetched, and no result is sent anywhere.

Compress PDF

Give a target size — 2 MB, 500 KB — and settings are searched until the file fits, instead of guessing at low, medium or high.

Runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded

PDF to compress

Drop a PDF here

Nothing is uploaded — the file is opened here on your device.

Your file never leaves this device. The whole operation runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded, queued on a server, or deleted later, because nothing was ever sent.

Original

—

Load a PDF

Compressed

—

Runs when you press compress

A target, not a vague setting

Portals state a hard limit — 2 MB, 500 KB — and “medium compression” does not tell you whether you have met it. Give the number here and resolution and quality are searched from best downward, stopping at the first setting that fits, so a file needing a light touch is not crushed to the floor.

This rasterises the pages

Each page is re-encoded as an image, which is what makes a scanned document shrink so far. It also means any selectable text becomes part of the picture. For a text PDF that is the wrong trade — those are usually already small.

Why use it

Built to be genuinely useful

Compress to a target size

Portals state a hard limit. Enter it and the tool works down until the file meets it.

Stops at the first setting that fits

A file needing a light touch is not crushed to the floor just because a target was set.

Your file never leaves the device

The work happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, so nothing has to be trusted or deleted later.

Or set DPI and quality yourself

For when you know exactly what you want.

How it works

Three steps

1
Drop in the PDF.
2
Enter the size it needs to be under — or switch the target off and set resolution and quality directly.
3
Compress. The result downloads and the achieved size is shown.

A number, not a vague setting

Upload limits are exact. A portal that accepts 2 MB rejects 2.1 MB. So a compressor offering 'low, medium, high' is answering a different question from the one being asked — you compress, check, find it is still too big, compress again, and repeat.

Enter the limit here and resolution and quality are stepped down from best to worst, stopping at the first combination that fits. That ordering matters: a file that only needs a light squeeze keeps most of its quality, and only a file that genuinely needs crushing gets crushed.

If nothing reaches the target, the smallest achievable version is still produced and the shortfall is stated plainly rather than presented as success.

How the compression works, and what it costs

Each page is rendered to an image and rebuilt as a JPEG at a chosen resolution. That is why scanned documents shrink so dramatically — a scan is already a picture, and this simply stores it more efficiently.

The cost is that any selectable text becomes part of the image. You can no longer search, copy or select it. For a scanned document there was no text layer to begin with, so nothing is lost. For a text-based PDF — a report exported from Word, say — this is the wrong tool, and those files are usually small already.

Physical page dimensions are preserved, so the document still prints at its intended size. Only the pixel density changes.

What resolution actually means here

A PDF point is 1/72 of an inch, so DPI maps directly onto how many pixels each page gets. 300 DPI is print quality. 150 reads comfortably on screen and is the usual sweet spot for a document that only needs to be looked at. 96 is fine for email. Below about 72, text starts to break down.

If you are compressing for a form that will be printed, do not go below 150. If it will only ever be viewed on a screen, 96 to 120 is usually indistinguishable and a fraction of the size.

FAQ

Questions people ask

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Available tools are linked; the rest are in development.

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