Compress a PDF

How it works

1. Drop your PDF (max 10 MB on Free, 200 MB on Premium).
2. Pick a compression level: high (web, 72 DPI), medium (e-book, 150 DPI, recommended) or light (print, 300 DPI).
3. Click Compress. Download the lighter PDF — source and result deleted after 1 hour.

Which level to choose?

High compression — web (72 DPI): ideal for a PDF emailed or hosted online. Typical reduction of 60 to 80% of the size. Images are downsampled to 72 DPI; on-screen rendering stays sharp but loses fine detail when zoomed.

Medium compression — e-book (150 DPI): recommended setting. Good size/quality trade-off, perfect for tablet or e-reader reading. Typical reduction of 40 to 60%.

Light compression — print (300 DPI): choose this if the PDF is destined for high-quality print. Images stay at 300 DPI, the reduction is more modest (10 to 30%) but the print result is preserved.

What gets compressed

Compression works on two things: embedded images (downsampled to the resolution of the level you pick, then recompressed as JPEG) and embedded fonts, cut down to the characters the document actually uses. Vector text is never redrawn, so it loses nothing. Image-heavy PDFs (scans, photo brochures) remain the best candidates, but a text-only PDF with embedded fonts also gets noticeably smaller. If the file cannot be reduced, we hand you back the original rather than a heavier file.

Privacy and security

The compression runs on our servers in France (OVH Gravelines). No US third party is involved in the process — no CDN, no storage, no tracker. Your PDFs are never indexed, analyzed or inspected. No result is cached: two compressions of the same PDF produce two independent files.

The source PDF and the compressed PDF are deleted after one hour. If you create a share link, a copy of the PDF is kept for the period you chose (up to 7 days on Free and 30 days on Premium). You can delete the share (and therefore the PDF) at any time. conv2pdf is GDPR-compliant, and a DPA is available on request for professional use.

Frequently asked questions

How much will my PDF shrink?

It depends on the content: a 10 MB scan can drop to 1-2 MB on high compression; a 50-page pure-text PDF will shrink by 5 to 15% at most. The gain is massive on image-heavy PDFs.

Does text remain selectable and searchable after compression?

Yes. Text layers are not touched by compression — full-text search, selection and copy-paste keep working.

Is there a visible quality loss?

On light and medium compression, the loss is imperceptible for normal reading. On high compression, you may notice slight pixelation on fine image details when zooming above 200%.

Can I compress an already-compressed PDF?

Yes but the gain will be marginal — most images have already been optimized. Try the "light" level first before going lower.

Automate via the API

Converting in bulk or from your app? The same processing is available through our REST API — hosted in France, DPA provided.

curl -X POST https://api.conv2pdf.com/v1/convert/compress-pdf \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer cpdf_live_xxx" \
 -F "file=@document.pdf"

See the API documentation →