Make PDFs smaller for email and uploads. Pictures inside the document are downscaled and re-encoded on your device; text stays text.
Add the four-page practice report, keep Keep text, choose Balanced and click Compress. Open the result thumbnail to compare the original and compressed versions, especially the illustration on Diagram.
Expect the same four pages and selectable headings. The illustration may be re-encoded; the actual saving depends on the stored images. If the result is not smaller, the original bytes are kept. This small teaching report does not predict the savings on a scanned document.
For an upload limit, choose Target size and enter the limit in KB. Check the actual result size and any Target not reached message. A size target does not guarantee readable small print; preview before sharing.
A PDF is a container. Text is stored as characters plus fonts, drawings as vector instructions, and photos or scans as embedded images. The images are almost always the bulk of the file, so that is where this tool works: each supported picture is decoded, scaled so it has no more pixels than the chosen level needs for the largest page, and re-encoded as JPEG. Text, fonts and vector graphics are copied into the new file unchanged, and the file structure is rewritten without leftovers from earlier edits.
A 300 dpi A4 scan is about 2480 × 3508 pixels. At Balanced it becomes at most 1240 × 1754 pixels, a quarter of the pixels, and JPEG at quality 75 typically stores that page in a few hundred kilobytes. Pictures that are already small are never enlarged, and any picture whose re-encoded version would not be smaller is left exactly as it was.
Target size tries seven settings between Light (300 dpi, quality 85) and a floor of 72 dpi at quality 45, searching for the lightest one whose output fits under your number. Every pass starts again from the original file, so a stronger setting never re-encodes an already lossy result. Three passes usually settle it. A file that is already under the target gets one Light pass; a file that does not fit even at the floor is returned at the floor with a note, and the footer suggests Flatten pages, a larger target, or splitting the document.
Pictures stored as JPEG 2000, in CMYK or indexed colour, or with unusual bit depths are decoded the way PDF viewers show them and re-encoded like any other photo, so they are converted to RGB. Black-and-white scans stored as CCITT fax or JBIG2 are already far smaller than any JPEG and stay as they are, and so do pictures in spot colours, which carry print instructions. The Keep text method tells you how many pictures it left unchanged. Flatten pages renders every page as one JPEG picture at the level's resolution instead, which works for any PDF at the cost of selectable text. Use it only when the result row reports pictures it could not re-encode, and check readability before sharing.
No. Reading, previewing and compressing happen in your browser. File contents and filenames are not sent to Toolkitta. Keep this tab open until you download the result; reloading clears the session. Website hosting and performance measurement are described in our Privacy notice.
Yes, for pictures: they are re-encoded as JPEG, which is lossy, and downscaled when they have more pixels than the chosen level allows. Text, fonts and vector drawings are not changed with the Keep text method. Choose Light for print, Balanced for screens, Strong for tight limits, and compare the result before sharing. Your original file is not modified.
The size of a PDF comes mostly from its embedded pictures. A text-only document, a file whose pictures are already small, or a black-and-white scan stored as CCITT or JBIG2 has little the Keep text method can shrink; the row then reports pictures left unchanged, and the original bytes are returned if the rewrite would not be smaller. For such scans, try Flatten pages, which renders each page as a JPEG picture.
Choose Target size, click a preset (500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 5 MB, 10 MB) or type your own limit in KB, and press Compress. Each file is compressed at the lightest of seven picture settings that fits under the limit; the result row shows the size and the resolution used. If even the strongest setting is too large, the row says the target was missed and returns that smallest file: switch to Flatten pages for scans, raise the target, or split the document. Limits are per file, and 1 KB counts as 1000 bytes, as most upload forms do.
Flatten pages tries rendering each page at the level’s resolution as one JPEG image on a page of the same size. If this is not smaller, the original file is kept. A retained flattened result can be smaller for some scans, but text is no longer selectable or searchable, links and form fields are gone, and fine print can soften. Use it deliberately, and keep the original.
Up to 20 PDFs, 50 MB each and 200 MB combined; files over 300 pages are skipped. Password-protected PDFs ask for their password on their card and restricted ones open straight away; the compressed copy is saved without encryption. XFA forms, digitally signed documents and PDFs with empty signature fields are rejected with an explanation: export a copy without digital-signature fields from your PDF application first. Large documents use considerable browser memory; if your device struggles, compress fewer files at a time.
No. Document metadata, bookmarks, links, form fields and annotations are kept with the Keep text method; unused leftover objects from earlier edits are dropped. This is not a metadata-removal, sanitization or redaction tool. When a flattened result is kept, it contains only the page pictures. If the rewrite is not smaller, the original bytes are returned and their text, forms and other content remain. Review the result before distributing it.
Guides, common conversions and useful next steps.
Use the complete page workspace for supported text and image edits, forms and signatures.
Use the action beside a finished result to send it directly, or open another tool: