Email limits and upload forms often reject big PDFs. The fix is usually quick once you know what makes a file large.
What makes a PDF big
- High resolution photos and scans, the number one cause.
- Many pages with full-page pictures.
- Embedded fonts and unused data.
Shrink it in three steps
- Open the file in the WriteDroid PDF Editor.
- Open Save options in the More menu and choose Smaller file or Smallest file.
- Press Save PDF and compare the size shown in the message.
The trade-off
To get a much smaller file, pages are saved as compressed pictures. Sharpness drops a little, and the text on those pages can no longer be selected. Start with Smaller. If it is still too big, try Smallest. Keep your original file in case you need the text later.
Other ways to lower the size
- Delete pages you do not need.
- Split a long file and send parts. See how to split a PDF.
- For scans, clean and crop the photos first with the image scanner.
Check before you send
Zoom in on small print and signatures. If they are hard to read, go back one level of quality. Readability matters more than saving a few hundred kilobytes.
Related
Merged a lot of scans? Compress after merging. Need to add numbers first? See page numbers and watermarks.
Common questions
How much smaller will it get? It depends on the file. Photo-heavy scans shrink a lot. Text-only files are often small already, so the size may not drop.
Does it need an upload? No. The work happens in your browser.
Can I get the text back? Not in the smaller copy, so keep the original.