How to compress a scanned pdf document. Compress PDF files

Hello everyone, my dear friends and guests of my blog. Today I will show you how to compress a PDF file for sending or uploading to a website using special programs and online services. I'm sure you work with PDFs often, but sometimes there are times when they take up so much space that they exceed the allowable upload size. What to do then? Don't be sad. All of these methods are absolutely free, so you don’t even have to worry about it.

First of all, I would like to show you how you can reduce the size of a pdf file using online services without installing programs. Naturally, not everyone will want to install an additional application that will load the system, while one of these four services will come to our aid completely free of charge.

Small PDF

I'll start with my favorite service. It helps me out almost always, and it helps reduce the file size without losing quality. At least it's not noticeable.

But I want to warn you right away that this does not mean that any size will be reduced by 5 times. If we get lucky. It all depends on various factors.

Well, for those who are not familiar with this service, I say - you can make no more than two transactions per hour. This is a limitation of the free version. But if you need to do more operations, then the price for an unlimited monthly lop will be simply ridiculous for you.

PDF Compressor

Another pretty good online service that has proven itself well.

Of course, the main disadvantage of this service is that it cannot work with very large files. When I tried to download the previous 147 MB ​​file, I received an error about the size being exceeded.

PDF2Go

Also a very cool service that helped me out a couple of times. I didn't have any complaints while working with him.

As you can see, this document has been compressed even more powerfully than in the first case. Not even 5, but 20 times. Of course, if you don’t particularly need such a small document, then you can set the quality to better, for example 150 or 300 dpi.

I talked more clearly about the three above services in this video.

PDFio

Well, the last thing for today I would like to consider is the Pdfio service.

But sometimes this service may give you a message that our file is already compressed incredibly well and will not further reduce its weight. This is the main disadvantage. Therefore, I would not recommend that you use this thing first.

Programs for working with PDF files

Well, now let's talk about the individual applications that you will have to install. Of course, not everyone likes it, but the program will always be with you, even if the Internet is turned off.

Adobe Acrobat

Let's start with the official application from Adobe, which is the creator of the PDF format itself and therefore is completely aimed at working with it.

1. In order to compress a PDF file as much as possible, enter the program itself and open the document whose weight you want to reduce. To do this, click on the menu “File” - “Open”.
2. Now click on the "File" menu again, but now select the option "Save as different" — "Reduced PDF File".

After this, you will receive a reduced size document. But Adobe Acrobat has one more feature. Can choose "Optimized PDF File".

The difference between these two functions is that here you can adjust various settings so that you can see for yourself what you can sacrifice and what you can't sacrifice. For example, you can reduce the quality, remove active links from the document, which also affect the weight, and optimize for quick online viewing.

You can even apply custom downsampling for color and monochrome images (forced reduction in the number of pixels). Thus, by lowering the quality of graphics in Adobe Acrobat, we also reduce the size.

Naturally, this is the most convenient way. However, its disadvantage is that you need to install a special paid program. Although, who am I kidding? More than 95 percent of our users (and even more) do not purchase a license. But in fact, the program can be downloaded from the official website and used for free for 7 days.

CutePDF

This is not exactly a program, but rather an add-on with which you can save a PDF file from Adobe Acrobat Reader, in which this function is not available by default. If you still don’t have an Adobe reader, download it for free from Adobe website. Just be careful, as the installer imposes McAfee antivirus. Uncheck all boxes.

First you need to download for free CutePDF Writer from the official website, and then run the installer. Just don't try to find the program, it won't be there. Now follow the instructions carefully.

This add-on is pretty good considering that it's free. But of all the options I have proposed, I like it the least. The fact is that in this way it will not always help you compress the PDF file to the minimum size. Sometimes it turns out that the volume, on the contrary, also increases, especially if it initially takes up less than 1 or 2 megabytes.

Archiving

Well, perhaps I’ll tell you about the most ancient method, which helped us out at a time when there were no converters or online services. Many people forget that a file can be compressed using any archiver, for example using the free 7-zip.

If you do not have the 7-zip archiver, then you can download it from here, and then install it as a regular program.

Additionally, many email clients cannot send large files. But the archiver can split one document into several parts, which can be sent by mail and put together by regular extraction.

I just tried to reduce a file that weighs 420 kb, and in the end I ended up with an archive of less than 300 kb. That is, archiving copes well even with small volumes and after so many years, it does not lose its relevance. Naturally, this method is relevant for sending or sending by mail. And after the recipient receives the archive, he will unpack it and it will be in its original form.

You can read more about working with archivers.

Why do you need to reduce the size of documents?

Typically, these actions are carried out in three cases:

• To free up disk space. You have seen for yourself how much space can be freed up.
• For forwarding. Many sites, programs and email clients do not accept large volumes for sending and are limited to a certain maximum size. Compression can help us with this.
• Speed. The larger the document, the longer it takes to open. Sometimes, if the computer is weak, this can even lead to freezing.

Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.

If you need to send a document, PDF– an ideal format compatible with multiple operating systems (including Windows, Mac and Linux). PDF files are not only versatile, but they are also quite secure, allowing users to assign passwords for particularly sensitive documents.

However, one notable disadvantage for PDF files is their size. PDF files can often be bulky, making them difficult to send via email. Luckily, there are a number of tools you can use to reduce the size of these files.

Reduce PDF file size

One simple and effective way is to use Adobe Acrobat Reader. Open the program, then open PDF file, which you want to make smaller. Select Document > Reduce file size.

PDF Compression Software

It is also worth paying attention to such popular file compression programs as WinZip, WinRAR or 7ZIP. In most cases, they can help you create lighter versions of PDF files.

Reduce PDF File Size on Mac

Users Mac can compress PDF files using the features available in the application View (Preview).

Open the file PDF by using Preview and go to menu File > Export.

Select filter Quartz and then select Reduce file size (Reduce file size). Click Save (Save) to finish compressing the file.

Compress PDF file online

You can also find many free tools on the Internet that can compress your PDF files.

Smallpdf

Smallpdf, a free PDF editing site, helps you easily reduce the size of your PDF files online. The site includes an automatic compression feature, which makes the process very fast. Then you can download the new compressed file.

The file compression process itself consists of two stages. Go to Smallpdf and drag your file into the box using your mouse or click Choose file (Select a file) to find and download the PDF file from your computer:

Wait for the automatic compression process to begin, then download the finished file for yourself.

PDF Creator

PDF Creator is a program with several interesting features that can help you create PDF files easily. During installation PDF Creator creates a virtual printer that allows you to save documents (Word, Excel, etc.) in the format PDF.

After installation installation PDF Creator, open the file with Acrobat Reader. Click Seal and select PDF Creator virtual printer (PDF Creator virtual printer).

Then open Properties > Paper/Quality and press Additionally.

Select Print quality and reduce DPI(permission) of the file. After starting the print job, a new lighter version will be created PDF file.

Image: © Oleksandr Yuhlchek - Shutterstock.com

Sources:

• PDF Compressor developer website
• PDFtk developer website
• Online service for processing pdf
• Russian-language online service for processing pdf
• PrimoPDF developer website
• how to reduce pdf size

Reducing the animation image occurs approximately according to the same scheme that operates with ordinary static jpeg- files. Small deviations appear only in the step-by-step editing of animation, which is typical for some programs.

You will need

• - Adobe Image Ready or any other program that supports editing animated images in gif format.

Instructions

Download and install Adobe Image Ready on your computer, it is usually automatically installed with Adobe Photoshop. You can also use analogues of this program by first searching the Internet and familiarizing yourself with all the available functions, advantages and disadvantages. They all have a similar algorithm for editing animated images. If during installation you are prompted to perform a file association to select the default program for opening certain images, complete this action by checking the boxes at your discretion.

If the file association has not been made, right-click on your gif file that you need to resize. Select the “Open with...” option and in the window that opens, select the program you recently installed. If it is not in this list, click the “Browse” button and find the exe file in the directory with the corresponding program name in Programm Files.

In the application that opens, select the image editing menu item. Select one image from the animation components in the panel below and change its size using the editing tools. Perform this action with others, but keep in mind that the size of the images must be the same.

Apply the changes. Some programs support the function of reducing or enlarging animated images immediately, without editing each component separately.

Once a PDF document is created, it is usually very large in size; to optimize it, you need to know how to reduce the size of a PDF file.

PDF– a very popular document format among users. A universal program for viewing this format on all types of OS is Adobe Reader.

Advantages of the format:

• The quality of file display is superior to compression types such as JPEG and GIF;
• Standardization – documents with this format can be opened on all devices, and the appearance of the document will not change;
• Ensuring security - when transferring PDF files online, you can always be sure that no one will gain access to edit the file. It is also difficult to embed a virus malicious script into such files;
• Support for a large number of compression algorithms;
• Automatic detection of document authenticity.

By the way, you may be interested in other articles:

Adobe Acrobat Pro for compression. Using Standard Features

One of the most popular programs for working with PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Pro. With its help, you can edit a previously created document and reduce its final size.

The application is paid, however, users can download a free trial version for 30 days or a portable version with reduced editing functionality.

The program allows you to significantly reduce the size of the final file.

Follow the instructions:

• Open your document in Adobe Acrobat;
• On the main panel, enable the File tab;
• Find and select “Save as another document...” and then “Reduced file size”, as shown in the figure below;

• Next, a window will appear in which you will need to specify the necessary parameters and the level of protection of the document being created;
• After converting the file, click again on the “Open” - “Optimized file” tab and in the pop-up list, click on the “Save as another...” item;
• Select a location on your hard drive where you want to save the document at a reduced size and click OK. This program allows you to perform compression without loss of quality.

In Adobe Acrobat, you can not only optimize a file, but also forcefully reduce its size.

To do this, follow the instructions:

• Open the document in the program;
• Now enable the File tab on the main toolbar of the utility;
• Select “Save as another” and in the new list that appears, click on “Reduce size”, as shown in the figure below;

This method is perfect if, after optimization, the size has not decreased to the level you need.

• In the new window, select the version of the program with which the final file will be compatible;

• Click OK to apply the options to only one file or Apply To Multiple to save the settings for several PDFs at once.

You can compress a file using the built-in functions of the Windows operating system. If the document does not open or takes too long to open, emergency compression is necessary.

To do this, you need to open the properties of the PDF file.

Then, in the general settings, find the “Other” button and in the window that opens, check the box next to the “Compress contents...” item marked in the figure below.

Save your changes by pressing OK.

This compression method is the simplest, so after compressing files whose size is several GB, the overall image of the content may be slightly distorted.

After compression, open the document in Adobe Reader to check its quality.

If it is invalid, return the original properties and optimize the file using third-party utilities.

If you need to reduce the file size only for a certain time, use data archiving utilities.

For example, 7Zip or WinRAR. In the future, if necessary, you can quickly unpack the archive and get a PDF with the initial size.

Cute PDF utility

Let's take a look at the Cute PDF program. It is one of the most common applications for converting to PDF and optimizing the final documents.

The utility is free to download and offers a wide range of features.

The program creates a virtual printer on the computer, through which the user interacts with the main functions.

To reduce the size of the desired file using Cute PDF, follow the instructions below:

• Open the document in any reader for PDF format;
• Now click on the “Print” button;

• In the window that opens to configure print settings, indicate that the printer is named “Cute PDF”, find the “Properties” or “Properties” button and click on it. In the Windows operating system, this key is located opposite the printer name;

Note! If the name Cute PDF is not in the drop-down list of available printers, the program may have been installed incorrectly or you did not restart your computer after installation.

• In the window that appears, open the Compression tab, then select the desired quality level and degree of compression of the document. Save the settings and close the properties window;
• Now in the printer settings window for printing, press the Print button;
• Next, a window will appear to select where to save the document;
• Wait until saving is completed and check the size of the final file. If necessary, you can perform all of the above steps on the compressed file to further reduce its size.

Using Google Drive storage and Adobe Acrobat

You can perform compression directly through your Google drive. Adobe Acrobat must also be installed on your computer.

Login to your drive account and upload the required PDF file.

Then you need to open the PDF in your browser.

To do this, select a document from the list of previously downloaded ones, right-click on it and click on “Open” or “Open”.

Now you need to send the contents of the PDF tab to the print queue. To do this, open the print settings window in your browser settings.

Select Adobe PDF from the list of available devices. Next, click on the OK button.

Instead of the usual printing process, the process of saving the document to the computer’s hard drive will begin.

In this case, the program will automatically optimize it, which will reduce its size.

Remember! In order for the Adobe PDF item to be available in the print list, Adobe Acrobat must be installed on your personal computer. Otherwise, saving using this method will not be possible.

Compression using MS Word

The popular word processor Word from the MS Office software package will also help you reduce the size of the final PDF. Open the file using the Adobe Acrobat utility.

Then save the document as MS Word (Figure below).

Now find the saved object and right-click on it. In the pop-up list, click on the “Convert to Adobe PDF” item, as shown in the figure below.

Wait for the process to complete. As a rule, it will not take more than two minutes.

This way you can reduce the document size by approximately thirty percent without significant loss of quality.

The best online converters

Thanks to open source software, many services have appeared on the Internet that replace some desktop programs.

To reduce the size of the document you need, you can use the following services:

• Shrink PDF. Official link to the resource: http://shrinkPDF.com/ru/. This online converter allows you to reduce the size of up to 20 documents at a time without loss of quality.

To get started, click on the “Open” button and select documents on your computer for compression. Wait for the object to be loaded onto the service.

Now the file and the status of its compression process will appear at the bottom of the page. Wait for the process to complete and download the resulting file to your device.

The figure below shows an example of using the service;

Also, using this service you can instantly compress JPEG and PNG files. To do this, switch to the appropriate service tab.

• SmallPDF. Link to the main page of the site: https://smallPDF.com/ru/compress-PDF. With this service you can optimize popular formats, including PDF.

To get started, drag the file from your desktop to the red area of ​​the open page in your browser. You can also open the file using cloud storage from Google or Dropbox.

Once a PDF document is created, it is usually very large in size; to optimize it, you need to know how to reduce the size of a PDF file.

PDF– a very popular document format among users. A universal program for viewing this format on all types of OS is Adobe Reader.

Advantages of the format:

• The quality of file display is superior to compression types such as JPEG and GIF;
• Standardization – documents with this format can be opened on all devices, and the appearance of the document will not change;
• Ensuring security - when transferring PDF files online, you can always be sure that no one will gain access to edit the file. It is also difficult to embed a malicious virus script into such files;
• Support for a large number of compression algorithms;
• Automatic detection of document authenticity.

Adobe Acrobat Pro for compression. Using Standard Features

One of the most popular programs for working with PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Pro. With its help, you can edit a previously created document and reduce its final size.

The application is paid, however, users can download a free trial version for 30 days or a portable version with reduced editing functionality.

The program allows you to significantly reduce the size of the final file.

Follow the instructions:

• Open your document in Adobe Acrobat;
• On the main panel, enable the File tab;
• Find and select “Save as another document...” and then “Reduced file size”, as shown in the figure below;

• Next, a window will appear in which you will need to specify the necessary parameters and the level of protection of the document being created;
• After converting the file, click again on the “Open” – “Optimized file” tab and in the pop-up list, click on the “Save as another...” item;
• Select a location on your hard drive where you want to save the document at a reduced size and click OK. This program allows you to perform compression without loss of quality.

In Adobe Acrobat, you can not only optimize a file, but also forcefully reduce its size.

To do this, follow the instructions:

• Open the document in the program;
• Now enable the File tab on the main toolbar of the utility;
• Select “Save as another” and in the new list that appears, click on “Reduce size”, as shown in the figure below;

This method is perfect if, after optimization, the size has not decreased to the level you need.

• In the new window, select the version of the program with which the final file will be compatible;

• Click OK to apply the options to only one file or Apply To Multiple to save the settings for several PDFs at once.

You can compress a file using the built-in functions of the Windows operating system. If the document does not open or takes too long to open, emergency compression is necessary. To do this, you need to open the properties of the PDF file.

Then, in the general settings, find the “Other” button and in the window that opens, check the box next to the “Compress contents...” item marked in the figure below. Save your changes by pressing OK.

This compression method is the simplest, so after compressing files whose size is several GB, the overall image of the content may be slightly distorted.

After compression, open the document in Adobe Reader to check its quality.

If it is invalid, return the original properties and optimize the file using third-party utilities.

If you need to reduce the file size only for a certain time, use data archiving utilities.

For example, 7Zip or WinRAR. In the future, if necessary, you can quickly unpack the archive and get a PDF with the initial size.

Cute PDF utility

Let's take a look at the Cute PDF program. It is one of the most common applications for converting to PDF and optimizing the final documents.

The utility is free to download and offers a wide range of features. Direct link to download the file: http://www.cutePDF.com/.

The program creates a virtual printer on the computer, through which the user interacts with the main functions.

To reduce the size of the desired file using Cute PDF, follow the instructions below:

• Open the document in any reader for PDF format;
• Now click on the “Print” button;

• In the window that opens to configure print settings, indicate that the printer is named “Cute PDF”, find the “Properties” or “Properties” button and click on it. In the Windows operating system, this key is located opposite the printer name;

Note! If the name Cute PDF is not in the drop-down list of available printers, the program may have been installed incorrectly or you did not restart your computer after installation.

• In the window that appears, open the Compression tab, then select the desired quality level and degree of compression of the document. Save the settings and close the properties window;
• Now in the printer settings window for printing, press the Print button;
• Next, a window will appear to select where to save the document;
• Wait until saving is completed and check the size of the final file. If necessary, you can perform all of the above steps on the compressed file to further reduce its size.

Using Google Drive storage and Adobe Acrobat

You can perform compression directly through your Google Drive. Adobe Acrobat must also be installed on your computer. Login to your drive account and upload the required PDF file.

Then you need to open the PDF in your browser. To do this, select a document from the list of previously downloaded ones, right-click on it and click on “Open” or “Open”.

Now you need to send the contents of the PDF tab to the print queue. To do this, open the print settings window in your browser settings. Select Adobe PDF from the list of available devices. Next, click on the OK button.

Instead of the usual printing process, the process of saving the document to the computer’s hard drive will begin. In this case, the program will automatically optimize it, which will reduce its size.

Remember! In order for the Adobe PDF item to be available in the print list, Adobe Acrobat must be installed on your personal computer. Otherwise, saving using this method will not be possible.

Compression using MS Word

The popular word processor Word from the MS Office software package will also help you reduce the size of the final PDF. Open the file using the Adobe Acrobat utility. Then save the document as MS Word (Figure below).

Now find the saved object and right-click on it. In the pop-up list, click on the “Convert to Adobe PDF” item, as shown in the figure below.

Wait for the process to complete. As a rule, it will not take more than two minutes. This way you can reduce the document size by approximately thirty percent without significant loss of quality.

The best online converters

Thanks to open source software, many services have appeared on the Internet that replace some desktop programs.

To reduce the size of the document you need, you can use the following services:

• Shrink PDF. Official link to the resource: http://shrinkPDF.com/ru/. This online converter allows you to reduce the size of up to 20 documents at a time without loss of quality.

To get started, click on the “Open” button and select documents on your computer for compression. Wait for the object to be loaded onto the service.

Now the file and the status of its compression process will appear at the bottom of the page. Wait for the process to complete and download the resulting file to your device. The figure below shows an example of using the service;

Also, using this service you can instantly compress JPEG and PNG files. To do this, switch to the appropriate service tab.

• SmallPDF. Link to the main page of the site: https://smallPDF.com/ru/compress-PDF. With this service you can optimize popular formats, including PDF.

To get started, drag the file from your desktop to the red area of ​​the open page in your browser. You can also open the file using cloud storage from Google or Dropbox.

Wait for your document to finish loading. The compression process will then begin automatically. As a rule, the service allows you to compress a file by 5% -20%. This is not much, but this method allows you to preserve the original quality of the document.

http://PDF-docs.ru/.

To perform compression, find the small window on the right side of the page. Then upload your file and select the compression type. Press the Forward key and wait a few minutes for the process to finish. Next, the file will automatically start downloading to your computer.

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