Compress a scanned PDF
Scans are heavy because every page is a photo. Cut the size while keeping it readable, in your browser.
Sent to servers: 0 BNothing left your device
About this tool
A ten-page document scanned at 300 dpi in color can weigh 30 MB or more: each page is a full-size photograph. That is why scans are the files portals reject most.
On a scan, lossless compression barely helps, because the weight is in the images, not the structure. Here we start from a 1 MB target and tune page quality until it fits, aiming for the sharpest result that does.
If the document has to stay readable for a person, check the result before sending it; and if you also need it searchable, run the local OCR first.
How it works
- 1
Drop the scanned PDF.
- 2
Adjust the target size to what is being asked of you.
- 3
Compress and check it is still readable.
- 4
Download.
Questions
- Why is my scan so heavy?
- Because every page is an image at print resolution. Scanning in grayscale instead of color, or at 200 dpi instead of 600, cuts the size at the source.
- Will it still be readable?
- The tool finds the highest quality that fits the target. If you ask for a very low size across many pages, it warns that this is the readable minimum.