The 4 best free tools to compress PDF

compress pdf
compress pdf

Last updated: July 17, 2022

Want to email a PDF file but its size is way too large to fit in an email? Here are some of the best free online tools for compress PDF file et reduce its size.

This list is only interested in web services of PDF compression. No, you will not find any software here to install on your computer. Why install more software on your system and overload your PC when the best tools are in the cloud?

However if you don't trust in the cloud, it is better to avoid submitting documents with sensitive data and to install a PDF compression program on your computer.

My favorite is File Optimizer. It is simple and comprehensive. A good choice for compress your PDF files locally.

Otherwise, dedicated online services like PDF Compressor ou iLovePDF gave better results. Without surprise, SmallPDF wins first place thanks to its compression system pushed, its ease of use and speed of compression.

Smallpdf

To be classified among the very practical online services, SmallPDF is a site that allows you to compress PDF, to merge or cut them, but also to convert to PDF your JPG, PowerPoint, Word or Excel files and even convert PDF to JPG images.

The site SmallPDF uses several functions including that to optimize the quality of a PDF file. This is a set of parameters used to reduce the size of a PDF, to optimize its properties or content.

To use it, nothing too complicated since everything is done online. A simple upload of your document is enough.

So to create an optimized PDF file, we click on the button " Compress PDF Then Uplode the PDF file you want to compress and click OK. And voila, in a few seconds, you will get your optimized PDF file.

Our test file went from 1,06 MB to 395 KB, a reduction of almost 67%. This is a level of compression superior to all other services available on the market.

Compress PDF with SmallPDF

iLovePDF

iLovePDF is a PDF file compressor totally free without any limitations and you do not have to register.

To compress a PDF file into different files, select the documents from your computer or from your Google Drive or Dropbox account. Then iLovePDF instantly starts compressing the document. Finally he offers to download the compressed version of your PDF file, or send it to your Dropbox and Google Drive online storage.

The compression is quite good, I managed to compress a 1,06 MB file to 400 KB, a reduction of almost 65%. You can also compress password-protected documents.

Compress PDF with iLovePDF

Online2PDF

Online2PDF is a great tool for PDF compression which allows compress files batch and the ability to customize compression settings based on the submitted file format.

The file size limit on the website is 50MB. In addition, you can also lower the quality for reduce file size. The site allows the compress PDF file by reducing the resolution of the image present in the PDF file.

Unlike all the others PDF compression sites, Online2PDF gives you the option to convert PDF images to black and white. With this, you can achieve a significant reduction in the size of the PDF.

Compress PDF with Online2PDF

PDF Compressor

In the same vein as the other services, PDF Compressor offers you to go through your web browser to compress your PDF files in the cloud.

he can compress PDF large size up to 200 MB. No other service offers such an upload size. The interface is fast and simple to use, giving you decent compression speed. There are no additional settings, just download and start compressing.

Once the process is complete, PDF Compressor offers you to download your compressed file directly to your computer. The test file we submitted to him went from 1,06MB to 415KB, which is a very good compression level of around 62%

Unlike other compression services, PDF Compressor keeps the same resolution (DPI) of your documents, allowing your PDFs to be printable and zoomable. It also allows compress PDF documents in batches and with ease.

Compress PDF with PDF Compressor