To have tools to compress PDF’s online, has become a necessity for all of us who work every day with documents in digital format. And, despite the innumerable advantages of this type of files, there are times when their weight determines us when using them.
Therefore, and although we already know other tools to edit PDF‘s for free, some of them do not have the option to compress them to make them more manageable and be able to store or share them with other users online.
And is that the format “Portable Document Format” have earned the reputation (deservedly) of being safe and comfortable to send various jobs by email.
However, these files are sometimes very heavy for some computers. Therefore, tools capable of compressing PDF were invented, such as those that I am going to show you and explain in detail in this article.
Can I compress PDF’s myself to reduce their weight and visualize them correctly?
To facilitate this work, I will tell you that it is possible to compress PDF without losing quality, thanks to various programs. In this way, you can see the files that you still save on your device in this format without losing a bit of content and preserving the memory and the proper functioning of the system.
However, we must not forget what are the possible situations in which you might have to go to one of these online tools:
Why May We Need To Compress a PDF?
First, if you review the characteristics of a document of these characteristics carefully, you will find that each file of this nature is divided into several sections that, at most, reach 1 MB of memory.
Its average weight is approximately between 200 KB and 400 KB.
However, the average weight that I just indicated is for a simple file, that is, a file with only one page and that is not generated from printed documents or images.
On the other hand, when it is a scanned file or an image , the thing changes completely, since it gradually increases in weight on the device where it is housed and becomes complicated to read.
What are the consequences of trying to view a file that is too heavy?
Because it occupies a very significant space in the device, it causes that when it reaches its storage limit, the file slows down and even presents certain malfunctions.
When this type of thing happens, it is when it becomes indispensable to be able to compress and reduce the weight of the PDF , without losing its content or the images that contain it.
What Are The Main Advantages Of Using Files in PDF format?
Reducing the storage weight of this type of digital documents has multiple benefits that, although I have already briefly mentioned some of them, now I will show you all more carefully:
► Friendly For Users And Operating Systems
Today, everyone knows this digital format, so no one is surprised to see such a document.
This makes them easy and quick to create. In this way, if for example you are late for work and need to deliver a document of this type, you can create it quickly, preserving the style of the original work.
► They Are Universal Archives
These are, in most cases, compatible with all types of devices and operating systems, such as Windows or Mac. By this I mean that they can be viewed from any computer or device, regardless of the type of software they use or the brand they are.
► They Are Safe Against Virus Threats
As I mentioned earlier, these documents stand out for being safe, since you can encrypt the data contained in the file and even add watermarks. In this way, the information cannot be easily replicated or edited without the author’s permission.
► Can Be Compressed
Finally, I can verify that its best advantage is the capacity it has to be compressed, since, in the case of occupying a large space in the system, it can be reduced, preserving the information it originally contains.
What Are The Advantages Of Being Able To Compress a PDF?
Following the advantage that I have just mentioned, you will deduce that there are many benefits that you can find when you discover how to compress a PDF , among which the following stand out:
1. The Speed
The operation to be able to compress a PDF does not require too much time, since if the file in this format is large, the system will take at most an hour to compress it.
The time varies depending on the content and the amount of sheets that are contained in the file, since it is an intense operation, which requires a lot of energy, but is usually fast and effective.
2. It Means a Great Saving of Space
Whether your device is a mobile phone, a tablet or something more complex like a personal computer, the result is the same: file compression increases the space available on your device.
The compression will be more effective if you have several files that you want to compress into one, eliminating the originals, as long as you only need the information contained in them and not the entire format itself. In this way, the space occupied on the device that was required by the complexity of the file will be completely free and available.
3. Facilitate downloads and shipments
In the same way, they become very comfortable to be able to send them by email for later download. That is, because the file now has a lower weight, it will be downloaded more quickly and efficiently and it will even be less “cumbersome” to send it.
However, it should be borne in mind that if the compression is of the type of joining several files into one, then the final file will have a name similar to xxx.zip (or something ending in ZIP).
And today, some devices still do not accept this suffix, because they used to contain many computer viruses.
4. Provides security and privacy
Due to the high security demand that some files have presented in recent years, file compression programs have developed various encryption systems that work to protect files at the highest level.
5. Quite powerful encryption
It should be noted that encryption is one of the most powerful protection systems, because it is an extremely long code and is not usually easily deciphered.
Therefore, it can only be seen if you enter the password. It is important that you remember her (or write it down in a safe place) because otherwise, you will completely lose the file.
After reviewing these interesting advantages of compressing PDF’s together, I would like to show you some platforms to carry out this task:
What are the 17 best platforms to compress PDF’s online and for free?
Here I am going to mention what are the best free online and downloadable programs to compress PDF.
»You may also be interested:
All of them have an easy handling, so that this task does not involve an investment of extra time in your daily work:
1. Compress PDF
The Compress tool is part of the wide variety of utilities around this digital format of the «I Love PDF» chain.
It is a script designed for GNOME from Nautilus that provides you with an easy and completely adapted way to be able to compress without difficulty and in a totally free way all kinds of documents of this type.
In addition, its “Drap & Drop” functionality makes it extremely intuitive and fast for all types of users.
2. LibreOffice (Mac, Linux, Windows)
This famous office suite offers you multiple tools to not only be able to compress your computer files, but also for editions and calculations.
Regarding the compression of LibreOffice files, you only need to enter the menu and in the “File” section, you have to click on “export PDF”. This will show you image compression.
3. Free PDF Compressor
This is one of the most popular PDF compression programs on Windows that you can find on the Internet.
As the name implies, Free PDF Compressor is completely free and allows you to compress documents in various modalities, such as e-books or eBooks, conversion from this format to .doc or even image formats such as JPG or PNG.
Depending on the mode you choose will change its quality.
4. Through a Virtual Printer
It is a very creative method designed to compress various files. A good example of this is the downloadable tool «doPDF«. It is an application that you can download to your computer and that pretends to be a printer.
However, when you click on “print file”, the same file will be generated but in this format, which can be heavier or less, depending on the size you choose and its quality.
Basically, the operation that this idea raises is that the program creates a virtual drive on your computer, as if you were installing a DVD player or an external hard drive.
5. SmallPDF
This program serves to compress online and easily this type of documents. It is one of the preferred by the public for how friendly it is when it is used.
Just drag the document you are going to compress to the SmallPDF compression box and then the application will reduce its size.
6. Acrobat Reader Pro
This is the typical document compressor. Acrobat Reader Pro is the best known worldwide. Mainly, it is a free document reader.
However, there is also a “freemium” version, which allows you to create files of this small size and optimize the same files, from images to complex texts.
7. Intermediate conversion
If you find yourself urged to compress the files on your computer, one of the changes could be the intermediate conversion, a very creative and ingenious action that perhaps you had never considered.
It is about migrating the document momentarily to another type of format and then regenerating that document when you already have more space and capacity.
8. PDFChain
PDF Chain is a very useful tool for Linux OS and Ubuntu users, as it is a graphical interface for PDF Toolkit (PDFtk). This interface supports all the features of the online command tool in a convenient way.
Since this is a command for PDF Toolkit, you must have this program already installed on your system.
9. ImageMagick
With ImageMagick you can create, edit, compose or convert images and PDF files, reduce their size, flip it, reflect it, rotate it, cut it and transform it to other types of formats.
This makes this tool very useful, so it can be used for different uses, without the need to install a program for each different thing.
In fact it is able to convert and edit photos from any of the most popular image banks.
10. QPDF
QPDF is a very simple online tool, which makes structural changes that preserve the content of PDF files.
This makes QPDF the perfect tool to reduce its size without affecting its content, which is really what we have been looking for.
11. PDF24 Tools
You just have to select your documents contained in your computer and drag them to the active field, in the “Drap & Drop” style and compression begins. A few seconds later you can download your compressed PDF files.
As with some of the tools I show you here, PDF24 Tools is intuitive and available to any type of user, whatever their computer skills.
12. PDF2GO
Without downloading or installing any program, PDF2GO compresses PDF’s online from anywhere, using only a browser and your Internet connection.
It gives you a safe and virus-free alternative, given the wide variety of compression programs for this type of computer documents. In this way, you can safely reduce their weight.
13. JinaPDF
It is a totally free tool and works without registering on any website.
The simplicity of JinaPDF makes it a platform that you should keep in mind, very simple, just select its file, and in a few seconds it will download the compressed version.
14. PDF
This is one of those tools that, when we talk about documents of type “Portable Document File”, should be saved in favorites in our browser, for its simplicity and versatility.
And PDFio is capable of editing, converting from one format to another and even joining pages that we have in two or more different files of this type.
15. DocuPub
Despite being a program to compress free online PDF , it is somewhat less intuitive than some of the others presented here. Even so, its effectiveness is the same and is more than worthy of being included in this list.
The most notable feature of DocuPub is that it allows you to choose the type of compression you want your file to have, and the shades of certain document colors.
16. PDFCandy
As I mentioned in an article several weeks ago, in addition to editing, this tool is also able to compress these files from the Internet.
In addition, PDFCandy includes the possibility of downloading its tool to your computer, so if you do not have a connection at a specific time, you can reduce the weight of your documents “offline”.
As an exclusivity, it is important to mention that you also have the possibility of adding a watermark or branding to your images , which can be very useful for the product sheets of your own eCommerce.
17. PDF Expert
If, like me, you are a user of Apple devices, this could be your online PDF compressor, since it is specially created for this type of computer:
In addition, with PDFExpert you can reduce the size of your office documents by up to 70%, so you can send them by email easily, without worrying if you take up the maximum space that many email managers have.
You just have to download it on your Mac, iPhone or iPad and start using it.
Conclusions
Compressing PDF files online is one of the tasks that, although at first glance they may not seem so essential in everyday life, when you have the need to send somewhat heavy documents, it takes us out of more than a hurry.
Therefore, keeping safe one of these free tools is sure to be a good idea to share those files that, for professional or personal reasons, you should send to other people.
