Drawbacks of Large PDF Documents
There are several issues that occur when you compress PDF documents. Some of the most common are:
Can’t attach large PDF files to email, as most email service providers, like Gmail, have a 25MB attachment limit.Can’t attach large PDF files to messaging apps like WhatsApp, as it has a 16MB limit.Takes longer to upload and download, especially on a slower bandwidth and under certain situations, like traveling in remote areas.Consumes more bandwidth, which can be a problem on metered connections like smartphones or carrier data plans.
Free PDF Compressor (Windows)
The first app on the list is Free PDF Compressor for Windows. I have selected the ebook option to keep image quality at a medium resolution. The ebook I have selected is 9.21MB in size. You can play around with the settings to see if the final results suit your needs.
PDF Compressor (Windows)
PDF Compressor is another Windows utility tool to compress PDF files.
How to Compress PDF Documents on macOS
Preview provides a native option to reduce the file size when exporting a file as a PDF; however, the results are often less than satisfactory. There are better options out there as we discuss below. One of them is Quartz Filters. It adds additional filters to the default filters that Apple offers in Preview to reduce PDF file size. Quartz is also more consistent with the quality and size of the files compressed. There are also several third-party apps available in the App Store.
Lightweight PDF (macOS)
PDF Shrink (macOS)
PDF Shrink works like Lightweight PDF but with one notable difference: when you drop the PDF file, it lets you select the quality and resolution of the output. You can play around with these values to find a balance where files are compressed with minimal quality loss. Unlike Lightweight PDF, it will ask you to choose a download location instead of overwriting the existing file.
Ghostscript (Linux)
In the example above, the input file was 4MB. And the output file was just 235KB.
Densify (Linux)
Densify is open source and hosted on GitHub This quick chart explains the different compression types Densify has to offer and what they mean for your reference.
Compress PDF File (Android)
PDF Compressor (iOS)
PDF Compressor works like its Android counterpart.
Drawbacks of Compressing PDF Documents
We saw why there is a need to compress PDF documents and how we can compress PDF files on various desktop and mobile operating systems. But what about the drawbacks of compressing PDF files? These include:
Not all tools are free. Some are paid and others adopt the freemium model.Compressing PDF files too much can reduce the quality of included images, ruining the experience for the reader.Too much compression can also break text and other elements, rendering the PDF file unreadable.
1. What happens when I compress PDF files?
Images and other graphic materials in the PDF file are scaled down. That means they are recreated at a lower resolution and contain fewer pixels, hence, taking less space.
2. Should I compress PDF files offline?
There is a privacy and security risk involved when you upload files online to a third-party developer’s servers. If you think the nature of the document is sensitive, it is best to compress it offline.
3. How long does it take to compress PDF files?
That depends on the size of the PDF file. However, during the tests here, a 20MB file took less than 5 seconds to compress.
Wrapping Up
If compression is not working for you – for example, the quality is not up to par – you can break the PDF file into smaller chunks or split it. The drawback of this method is that there would be multiple PDF files, and the user would have to open each one separately. Another option is to convert the PDF to grayscale. This is useful when the PDF file has too many images. Converting the PDF file to grayscale will turn the images black and white, along with fonts and all other color elements, reducing the PDF file size without compromising the quality. Check out this list of options to learn how to edit PDFs on desktop and with online tools. Also learn how to combine PDF files on Windows and Linux.
