How to compress a PDF so it's small enough to email
Scanned documents and PDFs full of photos can easily run to 20 MB or more, which is over the limit for many email services and upload forms. Compressing the PDF shrinks the images inside it so the file gets much smaller.
Step by step
- Open the File Editor. Choose Compress PDF.
- Upload the PDF. Pick the file you need to shrink.
- Compress. Run the compression and check the new file size.
- Download. Save the smaller PDF and send it.
What makes PDFs big
It's almost always images: scanned pages and photos stored at full resolution. Text-only PDFs are already small and won't shrink much. If a file is still too large, split it into two with Split PDF and send it in parts.
Other ways to make it smaller
Remove pages you don't need with Delete pages. If the PDF is made from phone photos, shrink the photos first and rebuild it with the free Images → PDF task. Or upload it to a cloud drive and send a link instead of an attachment.
Questions
Is it free?
Compress PDF is part of Postscript Pro: one payment of $24.99, no subscription.
Will the text get blurry?
Real text stays sharp. Compression mainly affects images, and scanned pages are images.
What's a typical email limit?
Many email services cap attachments at around 20 to 25 MB.
How much smaller will it get?
It depends on the content. Image-heavy PDFs shrink a lot; text-only ones barely change.
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