Compress PDF
Make a PDF smaller for email or upload limits without sending it to anyone.
Drop files here
or click to choose from your deviceAccepted: PDF
One file per runUp to 20 MB per file5 runs per dayFree PDFs end with a small “Made with nouplo.com” lineRemove limits with Pro✓ Works offline
Your files stay on your device
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and you can even turn off your internet connection before you start.
Example
Example: a 10-page scanned lease under a 5 MB upload limit, target “Under 5 MB”
Sam scanned a signed 10-page lease at 300 dpi in colour on a Letter scanner: lease-signed.pdf, each page a 2550 × 3300-pixel JPEG, 14.2 MB in all. That is under the free plan’s 20 MB, but the property manager’s portal takes 5 MB a file. Setting: Target size Under 5 MB; the level is then hidden, because the target picks it.
- “Under 5 MB” means at most 5,000,000 bytes, so the file passes whether the portal counts a megabyte as 1,000,000 or 1,048,576 bytes.
- Up to five settings are tried in turn, each from the original pages, and the first file that fits is kept. If none fits, the smallest comes back, with its size shown.
- With a target in MB, every step keeps the colour: only the KB targets end in grey.
- A scan has no text layer: the words are part of each picture, so how sharp they stay depends on the pixels in the table below.
| Step | JPEG quality | Page becomes | ≈ on Letter | Same as level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.85 | 1855 × 2400 | 218 dpi | Light |
| 2 | 0.7 | 1236 × 1600 | 145 dpi | Balanced |
| 3 | 0.5 | 850 × 1100 | 100 dpi | Strong |
| 4 | 0.4 | 695 × 900 | 82 dpi | — |
| 5 | 0.3 | 541 × 700 | 64 dpi | — |
lease-signed-compressed.pdf, with the size it reached next to it. Steps 1 and 2 keep 218 or 145 dpi; if it only fit at step 4 or 5, zoom in on the small clauses before sending. On the free plan a small line with our name is added at the foot of the last page.
How it works
- Drop a PDF onto the box or choose it from your device.
- If a form or an email sets a limit, pick it under Target size: under 100, 200, 300 or 500 KB, or under 1, 2, 5 or 10 MB. The tool then tries firmer settings until the file fits, so you don’t have to pick a level yourself.
- Otherwise leave No target and choose a level. Balanced is right for most documents; Strong is for photo-heavy files that must fit an email limit.
- Press Compress PDF. Photos are re-encoded at a lower quality and resolution and the file is rewritten.
- Compare the new size shown next to the result and download it.
Frequently asked questions
- How does this compress without a server?
- Your browser decodes each photo in the PDF, scales it down if it is larger than needed, and re-encodes it at a lower JPEG quality. Then the whole file is rewritten with a compact structure.
- How do I get a PDF under a set size, like 5 MB?
- Choose it under Target size: 100, 200, 300 or 500 KB, or 1, 2, 5 or 10 MB. Stronger settings are tried one by one, each from the original, until the file fits, and the size reached is shown next to the result. If your limit falls between two, pick the smaller: for a 4 MB limit, Under 2 MB.
- Why did my file barely shrink?
- Text-only PDFs and PDFs whose images are already small have little to gain. The biggest savings come from scanned pages and embedded photos.
- Will text stay sharp and selectable?
- Yes. Only raster images are recompressed. Text, vector graphics and links are untouched.
- Will the pages turn grey?
- Never with the three levels or the MB targets. Only the targets under 100, 200, 300 or 500 KB, when the usual five settings are not enough, go on to five more, and the last three of those save the pictures in greyscale.
- Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
- Remove the password first with Protect PDF in decrypt mode, then compress.
- Is my PDF uploaded, and how big can it be?
- No. Your browser opens the PDF, re-encodes its photos and rewrites the file on your device; you get a new file and the original stays as it was. The free plan takes one PDF of up to 20 MB a run, 5 runs a day, and adds a small line with our name at the foot of the last page; Pro removes these limits.