How to Reduce the Size of a PDF File? 4 Tips to Shrink Adobe File
Summary: In this article, we will tell you how to reduce the size of a PDF without losing quality in various ways.
Portable Document Format is a file format that multiple users commonly use for documentation and business purposes. It is famous among users because of the document’s quality and its high compatibility level. The PDF file can be uploaded and used everywhere. But sometimes users want to shrink multiple PDF files due to their enormous size which causes difficulty in uploading or sending through email, or via Whats app, or for any application filling platform restrictions.
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Different Methods to Shrink the Size of PDF File Without Losing Quality
In the upcoming section, we will discuss the methods on how to make large PDF files smaller using WinRAR, Microsoft Edge, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and more. Read the full article to explore the right solution that fits your needs.
How to Reduce the Size of a PDF File to 1MB for Email Using Adobe Acrobat?
The following steps contain an effective guide to shrink the size of PDF files through the all-in-one Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Launch the Adobe Acrobat application. Open the desired PDF file.
Next, navigate to the “File” menu → “Save As Other” → “Reduced Size PDF“.
After that, the “Make PDF Smaller” dialog box will appear, where you can see the list of options.
Pick the required compatibility option from the dropdown menu adjacent to “Make compatible with“. For instance, if you want the PDF file should be compatible with Acrobat 7.0 or later versions, choose “Acrobat 7.0 and later“.
Also, you can view the estimates of current and new file sizes after reduction. Under the “Description” section.
Check out the options under the “Make PDF Smaller” section:
- “Discard Objects” – this option enables you to remove specific PDF elements such as form fields, annotations, and attachments.
- “Discard User Data” – it can eliminate any user-centric data or personal reviews, such as comments and metadata.
- “Discard Alternate Images” swipes any alternate image versions.
- “From Text” adjusts the text compression level.
- “From Graphics” adjusts the graphics/image contraction level.
- “Discard Embedded Print Settings” removes applied printer settings.
- “Discard Embedded Search Index” removes inserted search index data.
Choose the above options carefully for a successful reduction in PDF file size. Always, remember to preserve the essential data or functionality beforehand.
Quick Tip: For the options in the “Make PDF Smaller” section, the most preferred selection is to go with the “From Graphics” with a lower image resolution like 72-150 dpi, “Discard Objects“, and “Discard User Data” panel.
Lastly, tap on the “OK” tab to apply the respective changes to the newly created or reduced-size PDF file.
After pressing on the “Save As” button, select the location and filename for the smaller PDF file, and hit on “Save”.
Note: The reduction in file size depends on the PDF file content and complexity. In comparison to text-heavy documents, images or embedded objects are more squeezed.
How to Decrease the Size of a PDF file Below 1MB through Adobe’s PDF Optimizer?
Use the Adobe Acrobat’s PDF Optimizer to reduce the PDF length. Here is the step-by-step guide:
Navigate to the “Tools” pane, after starting the Adobe Acrobat application.
Next, choose the “Optimize” category → “Optimize PDF Tool” option.
After that, select the PDF file(s) that you want to reduce via the “Open Files” tab.
Hit on “Open” to proceed.
The “Optimizer PDF” dialog box will pop several checks to shrink the size of PDF files:
- “Make compatible with” – enables you to pick the correct PDF version.
- “Audit Space Usage” – access the PDF files and find the areas where you need the optimization.
- Under “Object Compression Options,” this aspect can allow you to reduce images, text, and other significant objects that are worth considering.
- “Discard Options” – With this step, you can erase some particular elements like bookmarks, comments, etc.
Go with the above selection whichever you find comfortable to apply by clicking on the “OK” button.
After that, browse for the directory where you want to save the optimized file(s).
Finally, tap on the “Save” button to store the newly created PDF file(s).
Remember: Adobe’s PDF Optimizer offers various settings to reduce the file size to 300KB or more variations. Hence, to achieve good results you can experiment with different settings mentioned in the above tool. It is always suggested to review the optimized file to check the quality and content alternations.
How to Reduce Large PDF File Size without Losing Quality in WinRAR?
WinRAR is primarily designed to open and shrink archives, but it does not have any special case for shorting the PDF files without losing quality. However, you can still use this utility to lower the PDF files up to a certain extent by its system mechanism, though the results may not be as efficient as while using Adobe Acrobat or other 3rd party tools. Here are the steps to accomplish it:
- Open the WinRAR application. Then, go to the “Tools” menu →”Convert to SFX“.
- Next, in the current window, tap on the “Mode” dropdown → “Create solid SFX archive“.
- Henceforth, press on the “Settings” tab adjacent to the Mode dropdown.
- In the Settings panel, navigate to the “Compression” tab. Here are the choices:
- For normal reduction in size, pick the “Default compression method -mx” archive
- Want to apply to other sizes such as Dictionary size, set it to a higher level like 64MB or 128MB
- Besides this, check the other alternatives such as the “Create solid archive“, and “Compress shared data” box.
- To confirm, click on the “OK” button.
- Again to the previous state of the Convert to SFX window, hit on the “Files” icon to include the PDF file(s).
- Specify the destination path and file name for the new optimized PDF archive.
- Lastly, press “Start” to begin the process of PDF file size reduction into a solid SFX archive.
- Now, simply extract the reduced PDF file from the new .rar archive.
How to Shrink the Size of a PDF File for Sending Email or Less Than 10MB using Microsoft Edge?
Microsoft Edge does not have a built-in potential to reduce PDF file sizes. However, you can still make some workarounds. Here’s a method you can try:
Launch the Microsoft Edge application. Type “compress pdf extension”. Click on the “Get” button. Otherwise, go with the link below in Edge:
https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/compress-pdf/ngdjfpehgihkfbomnpimnjoahomdlafh
Now, to use this: Go to the Microsoft Extensions and tap on the Compress PDF Extension. After this, simply select the files by tapping on the Choose Files button. Then, pick the Output extension. In the end, Hit on the Zip and Download Now! tab.
Approach 2 for reduction of PDF files by 100KB:
Open the desired PDF file in Microsoft Edge. Select “Print“.
Under the “Printer” section, choose “Microsoft Print to PDF“.
Click the “Print” button. This will open the “Save Print Output As” window.
Give the optimized PDF a new file name and click Save.
Reminder: By using this 2nd alternative, you can reduce the file size to certain level while still maintaining good print quality overall. In general, the practice used by Edge is to shrink the images, subsetting fonts, and more.
Shrink PDF File Size without Losing Quality to 2MB: Expert Move
SysTools PDF Toolbox is one of the best solutions, which works efficiently to downscale the size of PDF files without losing their quality. This software has a single-user interface that makes it easy and comfortable to use. Users can shrink several PDF files in a hassle-free manner by using this tool. Along with other solutions, we have elaborated more on this tool in the below sections.
Steps of Automated Solution to Reduce the PDF File Size
An alternate method to create small-size PDF documents is by using the software provided by SysTools. The program provides an option to make large PDFs smaller in a just few clicks. Apart from this, it also provides other advanced features too. Also, there is no formatting & content alteration done by the tool after process completion.
Follow these Steps to Minimize PDF File Size Free:
- Launch the tool to shrink PDF file size
- Add PDF files/folder that has to shrink
- Select the desired Compress & Page option
- Process completion message is displayed to the user
Tabular Difference Between the Lossless and Lossy Reduction
From the given comparison data, you will get to know about the different aspects of behavior on the lossless and lossy reduction patterns.
| Aspect | Lossless Reduction | Lossy Reduction |
| Algorithm | Preserves all original data, and reduces by eliminating redundancy and unnecessary information. | Discards some data to achieve higher reduction ratios. |
| Preservation of Data | Retains all original data. | This may result in the loss of some data, particularly in visual or auditory files. |
| File Size Reduction | Generally offers moderate reduction ratios. | Often achieves higher reduction ratios compared to lossless reduction. |
| Quality | Preserves original quality. | May degrade quality, especially noticeable in visual and auditory content. |
| Reversibility | Fully reversible, original data can be reconstructed without loss. | Irreversible, some data is permanently lost during reduction. |
| Suitable For | Textual and data-heavy files where preserving every detail is crucial (e.g., documents, spreadsheets). | Multimedia files like images, audio, and video where slight loss of quality is acceptable for smaller file sizes. |
Conclusion
This article focuses on how to reduce the size of a PDF file without affecting the quality. There are plenty of advantages to creating small-size PDFs it helps in quick emailing, increases storage space, and so on. There are several methods by which users can minimize PDF file size manually and use a professional tool, both of which are effective. Now, tt depends on the choice of the user.