How to Compress PDF File Size

About this video

Kevin demonstrates two ways to compress a PDF without a noticeable loss in quality. First, the online tool Smallpdf (he also names ilovepdf.com and pdfcompressor.com as alternatives): drag and drop the PDF, choose Basic compression for a modest reduction or Strong for the largest reduction, then download. In his example a 3 MB file compresses to 1 MB and still previews at fairly good quality. He notes the online service can only be used once for free, making it suited to a single document. Second, for unlimited and private compression he uses PDFgear, a free desktop app from pdfgear.com that also edits, converts, signs and annotates PDFs and requires no cloud upload. In PDFgear’s Compress PDF hot tool he drags in the same 3 MB file, explains the trade-off — High compression gives the smallest file with possibly lower quality, Low keeps better quality with a smaller saving — selects High, and the result comes out under 1 MB with quality he judges still pretty good.

Key takeaways

• Smallpdf compresses by drag-and-drop with Basic vs Strong levels; the demo reduced a 3 MB PDF to 1 MB, but the free online use is limited to one time
• Other online compressors named include ilovepdf.com and pdfcompressor.com
• PDFgear is a free installed PC app for unlimited compressions and avoids uploading documents to the cloud
• Compression level is a size-vs-quality trade-off: High yields the smallest file, Low preserves more quality
• PDFgear also handles editing, converting, signing and annotating PDFs beyond compression

Episode details: published September 18, 2024 · 3:06 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kevin Stratvert’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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