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Foundry✦pdf

PDF tool · in your browser

Compress PDF without wrecking quality

Compression is always a trade-off, so this tool aims for the sweet spot: meaningfully smaller, still perfectly legible. It works best on scanned or image-heavy PDFs, and if it can't beat the original size, it simply returns your original.

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How it works

  1. 1Select the PDF you want to shrink.
  2. 2Click Compress — each page is re-encoded at a smaller size.
  3. 3The smaller PDF downloads instantly.

When this helps

  • Reduce a photo-heavy report while keeping text and diagrams readable.
  • Shrink scanned paperwork before archiving or sharing it.
  • Test whether an already optimized PDF can be made smaller without risking a larger output.

Tips for a clean result

  • Zoom in on small text after compression before distributing the result.
  • Text-only PDFs may not shrink much because their content is already compact.

Frequently asked questions

How much smaller will it be?+

It depends on the content; scanned and photo-heavy PDFs shrink the most. If we can't beat the original, you get the original back.

Will the text stay selectable?+

Compression re-encodes pages as images, so text becomes part of the image. Use it when small size matters most.

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