A PDF that exceeds an upload limit does not always need to be rebuilt. Sometimes reducing photographs is enough; sometimes you should first remove attachments the recipient does not need. Begin by checking the permitted file size and deciding which content must remain in the final document you send.
The PDF compression tool has two modes: recompressing images while keeping text, and converting complete pages into images. Your choice affects how the downloaded document can be used. This guide explains when to try each mode and what to inspect before uploading the result.
Read the attachment limit before processing
Check whether the limit applies to each file or to all attachments together. A form allowing five MB per attachment is different from one allowing five MB for the entire application. Also note the accepted formats. A smaller JPG will not solve the problem if the receiving form specifically requires a PDF.
Open the source and inspect its pages. Does it contain large photographs, scanned sheets or mostly text? Try selecting a few words. If you can select them, at least that section has a text layer. This does not prove that every page uses the same structure, especially in a document assembled from several sources.
Use Split PDF first when you only need one attachment from a larger collection. Use Delete PDF pages for unnecessary or blank pages. Remove only content the recipient does not need. An explanatory note or the reverse side of a certificate may matter more than a small reduction in file size.
Start by recompressing images and keeping text
The default mode recompresses eligible JPEG images inside the PDF. It does not turn text and vector content into pictures during that operation. This makes it a sensible first attempt for reports with photographs, illustrated proposals or documents where you want existing text to remain available for selection and searching.
This mode does not process every possible image encoding inside a PDF. Some images use other structures, while some documents already use very little data. The output may therefore remain close to the original size. A small saving does not necessarily mean that processing failed or that you selected the wrong setting.
Begin with the medium level and download the result. Inspect photographs, small chart labels and lettering placed over backgrounds. You can also check existing text through PDF to text, but still open the PDF in a viewer to inspect the appearance of its pages and the placement of the content.
Choose a level for the details you need
The available levels are light, medium and strong. Stronger processing uses lower quality and smaller dimensions for eligible photographs. That often reduces file size, but it can make fine details inside pictures harder to read. Treat lettering on a photographed receipt as photographic detail, even though it looks like ordinary document text.
If medium produces a file small enough for the destination, you do not need to choose strong immediately. If the result is still too large, run a stronger attempt from the original. Each attempt then begins with the same source, rather than a copy that has already lost detail during an earlier compression pass.
Try light compression when photographs, drawings or small labels need more detail. Compare the same area of the original and new file at similar magnification. Do not judge only the cover page. One demanding page of figures may determine the acceptable quality for the entire document you are preparing to send.
Check the consequences of turning pages into images
The other mode renders each complete page as a JPEG image and builds a new PDF from those images. It can help with some scanned documents when the first mode gives little reduction. In the newly created PDF, however, text becomes part of a picture rather than a separate text layer.
That image based result does not retain previous text searching, active links or interactive fields in the same way. If the recipient needs to copy figures or fill in the document, try the text preserving mode first. Rendering a scan with an existing OCR layer into page images removes that layer from the new image based version.
Do not choose this mode merely because it appears under compression. Use it when a visual representation of each page is sufficient for your purpose. If you need editable content, the PDF to Word guide explains the distinction between real text, scans and documents that still require character recognition before editing.
Understand a result with no meaningful saving
The tool returns the original file when the newly prepared version is not at least approximately two percent smaller. This avoids replacing your source with a version that saves almost nothing or is actually larger. Read the result message before assuming the download is a newly compressed version of your document.
This size check also applies to the mode that turns pages into images. If the original is returned because the saving is too small, its features can remain as they were before processing. Inspect the actual download instead of assuming that selecting a mode proves that the downloaded document has changed.
No setting can promise an exact target size for every PDF. A few pages of text may already occupy little space, while large photographs can offer more room for reduction. If necessary, return to the source application and export another PDF with smaller images before trying an additional compression step.
Inspect size, content and practical usability
After downloading, compare the file size with the upload limit. Open the PDF, count its pages and compare the beginning and end with the original. Look closely at small amounts, decimal points, stamp edges and thin table lines. Passing a size check is only useful if the recipient can still read the document.
Search for a known word if the original was searchable. Test any links or form fields you need. When preparing several attachments, decide the final content first and use Merge PDF if necessary. Check the size again afterward because the combined file includes every section you added, not just the part you compressed.
Use PDF to JPG when the destination specifically needs pictures of the pages. For separate photographs before building a document, try image compression. Those are different tasks. Choose the final format according to the recipient's requirements, and keep text features when the person receiving the document needs them.
Keep the original and identify the checked copy
The tool accepts one PDF up to 100 MB. For a password protected document, prepare an authorized unprotected copy in an application that can open it, because this tool has no password field. Keep the source and your compression attempts under different filenames until you have chosen a copy with acceptable size and readability.
Upload the checked copy and inspect it again in the receiving form if an attachment preview is available. Retain the original for future changes or different delivery requirements. Visit the PDF tools for the next task, or read the PDF merging guide when several attachments need to become one ordered document.
Apply the steps to your file.
Compress PDF