Compress a PDF
Make a PDF smaller without uploading anything — pick a compression level, or set a target file size and FileTinker finds the quality that fits. It rebuilds the document in your browser, so your file never leaves your device. Works best on scanned or image-heavy PDFs.
Compress PDF to a target size
Need an exact size? Each preset opens its own page ready to go:
How to compress a PDF
- Add your PDF above by dropping it in or tapping to browse. It's read straight into your browser — nothing uploads.
- Pick a compression level, or switch to Target size and enter a size like 200 KB or 1 MB.
- Check the resulting size and download. This works best on scanned or image-heavy PDFs, so compare before you save.
About compressing PDFs
PDF compression shrinks a document by rebuilding its pages and re-encoding the images inside them. Scanned and image-heavy files benefit the most, since their large photos are where the size lives. In target mode FileTinker tries several quality and resolution settings and keeps the highest-quality one that fits your size — and because pages are rasterised, an already-efficient text PDF may not reach a very small target, so you are told the closest size it could reach.
One trade-off to know: rasterising turns pages into images, so selectable text and bookmarks are not preserved in the compressed copy. Use this on scans and image PDFs where that doesn't matter, and keep your original if you need searchable text. Everything runs in your browser, so your file never leaves your device and nothing is stored on a server.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compress a PDF?
Add your PDF above and press Compress. FileTinker re-renders each page and re-encodes it in your browser to make the file smaller, then gives you the result to download.
Which PDFs does this shrink the most?
Scanned documents and image-heavy PDFs shrink the most. Text-only PDFs that are already efficient may shrink little — and because pages are rasterised, very text-heavy files can occasionally end up larger, so check the result size before downloading.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. Compression runs entirely in your browser — your PDF never leaves your device and nothing is stored on a server.
Will the text in my PDF still be selectable?
Compression rasterises pages, so selectable text and bookmarks are not preserved. If you need searchable text, keep your original or use this only on scanned/image PDFs where that doesn't matter.
Can I compress a PDF to a specific size like 100 KB?
Yes. Switch to Target size, enter a size (e.g. 100 KB, 500 KB or 2 MB), and FileTinker tries several quality and resolution settings to land at or under it. If a target is too small for the document, it tells you the closest size it reached.