Compress PDF
Shrink PDFs without the quality hit.
Three compression levels, all processed privately in your browser.
Compression level
Drop your PDF here, or click to browse
Shrunk in your browser — your file stays private
Files never uploaded
Processed entirely in your browser.
No retention
Nothing stored — nothing to delete.
Private by design
No accounts required, no tracking of your files.
Why creators choose FormatLayer
Fast, lossless processing
Preserves text, fonts, and vector graphics — no quality loss.
Works on every device
Drag, drop, and download from desktop or mobile. No installs, no plugins.
100% private by design
Everything runs locally in your browser. Your files never leave your device.
What you get with Compress PDF
- Three compression levels (Light, Balanced, Strong)
- Visual size comparison before/after
- Re-encodes images for smaller files
- Outputs a fresh canonical PDF
Why people use it
Send PDFs over email under attachment limits
Speed up uploads on slow connections
Save storage without sacrificing legibility
How it works
- 1
Upload a PDF
- 2
Pick Light, Balanced, or Strong compression
- 3
Download the smaller PDF
When to use Compress PDF
- Fit a portfolio under a 10 MB email limit
- Reduce scanned documents before uploading to a portal
- Shrink slide-deck exports for web sharing
- Cut down photo-heavy reports for archiving
Who uses Compress PDF?
From classrooms to legal desks, here's how different teams put Compress PDF to work every day.
Students
Shrink assignment PDFs to fit portal upload limits without losing readability.
Teachers
Compress scanned worksheets before emailing large classes.
Professionals
Trim a client report under a 10 MB email attachment cap.
Businesses
Reduce photo-heavy proposals and pitch decks for faster inbox delivery.
Engineers
Compress CAD-exported PDFs and technical drawings for site sharing.
Designers
Shrink mockup PDFs for client review without exporting a low-res version.
Government Offices
Meet strict portal file-size limits when submitting scanned documentation.
Pro tips
- Balanced is the best default — Strong for image-heavy PDFs only
- Compress last, after merging and editing
- For text-only PDFs, Light already saves 20–40%
- Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded, so it's safe for confidential, financial, and legal PDFs.
Best practices
- Keep the original — compression is one-way for images
- Aim for under 5 MB when emailing to non-technical recipients
Common mistakes to avoid
- Choosing Strong on legal documents — text stays sharp but images may soften
- Compressing an already-compressed PDF — diminishing returns