How to use: Compress PDF
- 1Choose the PDF you want to make smaller.
- 2Pick a level. Recommended works for most documents; choose Extreme if a portal has a strict upload limit.
- 3Press "Compress PDF" and wait while the images inside are optimised.
- 4Download the smaller PDF. Your original file is not changed.
Why PDFs get so big
The weight of a large PDF is almost always images: pages scanned at high resolution, phone photos of documents, or brochures with big pictures. A single phone-camera scan can be 3–5 MB, so a 10-page application quickly reaches 40 MB, far above the 1–5 MB limit most online forms allow.
How NapTools compresses
NapTools finds every photo and scan inside the PDF, resizes it to a sensible resolution and re-encodes it with MozJPEG, a highly efficient JPEG encoder. Each image is only replaced if the new version is genuinely smaller. Everything else in the file (text, fonts, links, form fields) is copied untouched.
| Level | Best for |
|---|---|
| Light | Printing, when quality matters most |
| Recommended | Email and most uploads |
| Strong | Large scans that must be small |
| Extreme | Strict portal limits (for example 1 MB) |
Tips for the smallest file
- Remove pages you don’t need before compressing, using the Remove PDF pages tool.
- Scan at 150–200 DPI instead of 600 DPI. Documents remain perfectly readable.
- Some PDFs store scans in formats other than JPEG; those are kept as they are for now.
Frequently asked questions
How much smaller will my PDF get?
Scanned documents and PDFs full of photos often shrink by 50–90%. PDFs that are mostly text (like a Word export) are already small, so there may be little to gain; in that case we keep your original file.
Will the text become blurry?
No. NapTools only recompresses the photos and scans embedded in the PDF. Typed text, tables and vector graphics are left exactly as they are, so they stay sharp and searchable.
Is it safe for confidential documents?
Yes. The PDF is processed inside your browser and never uploaded. Nobody, including us, can see it.
Which level should I choose for a government portal?
Start with Recommended. If the file is still over the limit, try Strong, then Extreme. Extreme keeps documents readable but photos will look softer.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Not yet. Remove the password first with the app that created it, then compress the unlocked copy.