Best ways to shrink PDF files in 2023
PDFs can become very large, but there are easy ways to shrink these files.
David FischerPDFs are a great choice when you want to exchange documents across multiple platforms. You do not have to worry about how the format will appear on Windows, Mac or a smartphone. And the format is also useful when the files are to be edited by several people.
One disadvantage is that PDFs can be significantly larger than comparable Word or PowerPoint documents. When creating a PDF file it is easy to choose the wrong saving options. This way PDFs can become very large files and cause problems with trying to send them via email. But there are easy ways to shrink such files using online services. We will show you how you can easily shrink a PDF online.
There are several free online services available that help you shrink PDF files quickly and easily. These include PDFBear, SmallPDF, PDF Compressor and I Love PDF.
We will guide you through an example using the I Love PDF site. Click Compress PDF first, then select or drag the PDF file you want to edit to upload it to the webpage. You will now see your PDF in the middle of the website and a column will appear on the right with the three options Extreme Compression, Recommended Compression and Less Compression.
The higher the compression level, the smaller the file size. However, this is also accompanied by a lower image quality. Now choose your preferred compression type and then click on Compress PDF at the bottom right.
Afterwards the website will show statistics of the compression result and you can now download the newly compressed PDF.
That's it!
About Author
David Fischer
I am a technology writer for UpdateStar, covering software, security, and privacy as well as research and innovation in information security. I worked as an editor for German computer magazines for more than a decade before starting to be a team member at UpdateStar.