3 Ways To Compress PDF

Data compression is the process of efficiently encoding and processing the elements in a file in order to achieve a reduction in the final file size. This optimizes the elements within the file and makes the resulting file compact. Compression is used to turn bigger files to average-sized ones, and average-sized files to small files. 

The process of compression is important because storage for devices nowadays, as well as file size requirements for sharing, limit the size of the files. This is to stabilize upload times, especially when you are sharing the file over messaging platforms. In this article, we’ve collated three ways to compress PDF files. With the right compression, you can expect your PDF files to reduce in size to at most 50% of the original! 

Compress PDF online

Browser-based PDF applications like the suite of web applications by PDF Bear are slowly gaining traction with regards to easily editing PDFs on the go. With these online web applications, access to a powerful reader and editor is more convenient. PDF Bear’s Compress PDF application is easy to use and loaded, powerful enough to compress large files, and speedy in its process.

There are a lot of options out there when it comes to how to type on a PDF but online PDF compression tools, but not so straightforward like the one in PDF Bear. What you just need to do is upload the file in question – make sure that it is not a password-protected file, or broken and corrupted, for that matter – wait for the uploader to finish, then choose the corresponding compression you want to happen. The compression tool will then create a separate, optimized, compressed file.

Compress PDF offline

Of course, you can also easily compress PDFs through offline channels. When your work desktop has a dedicated PDF viewer, it should also come as no surprise that it can do minor edits on the file. With standalone PDF software, the powerful and feature-rich ones always need a one-time payment or subscription, but you still have lots of free alternatives out there. You just need to be savvy about it.

With software, the process of compressing PDFs starts by opening the file through the application. On the tab where the file is opened, find the menu toolbar that says “Reduce File Size” or “Compress To.” Other software will tag this feature as “File Shrink,” etc. so you need to know what to search for. Choose that option, then click on the compression method you want, then wait for the application to create a new, separate file.

Compress PDF through default PDF viewers on your device

Every electronic device that has a screen for viewing and watching, save for portable handheld gaming devices, has at least a default PDF viewer installed in it. Laptops, Macs especially, are outfitted with a default PDF viewer that has great editing capabilities. On Windows, you need to download a standalone software. On mobile, Android and iOS typically use the eBook viewer as a secondary PDF reader.

Although you need to get a separate app for smartphones with the ability to compress PDF, compressing should be a breeze when you’ve set it up. On Preview, go to “File” then select “Export.” Once done, you’d be directed to a command prompt to which you need to choose PDF. Under the storage option, there is a “Reduce File” tick box you need to set in order to compress the PDF. Select the folder for it to compress, and voila, you have a new and improved PDF document!

Takeaway

If you are working with the PDFs all day, going the online route of compressing is the way to go. This is because you can compress by batch, while on software, you need to open up every single PDF file to be able to do batch compression.