How to make a PDF smaller for email
Most email services refuse attachments above 20 to 25 MB, and many workplace mail servers set the limit lower. A scanned contract or a brochure full of photos can pass that easily. Here is how to shrink a PDF without making it unreadable, and how to choose between keeping the text selectable and getting the smallest possible file.
Open Compress PDFShrink file size for e-mail and uploads while keeping documents readable.
Why some PDFs are so large
A PDF made from a word processor is mostly text and is usually small. The size comes from images: every page of a scanned document is a photograph, and brochures and reports often carry full-resolution pictures that are far sharper than a screen or printer needs. Compression works by reducing those images, so the more images a file holds, the more it can shrink.
Compress a PDF step by step
- Open Compress PDF and add your file. On the Free plan files can be up to 25 MB each; Premium accepts up to 200 MB.
- Pick a compression level (see below for which one to choose).
- Select Compress and download the result. The result screen shows the new size, so you can check it fits before you attach it.
Which compression level to choose
- Lossless clean-up rewrites the file's structure and leaves everything else alone. Text stays selectable and searchable, so use it for contracts, reports and anything people will copy from. The saving is smaller.
- High quality reduces images gently and keeps pages looking their best. Good for brochures and presentations.
- Recommended gives a strong reduction while staying easy to read. A good default for scanned documents.
- Maximum compression gives the smallest file, with visible quality loss. Use it when the file simply has to fit.
Every level keeps text selectable and searchable: the last three get their savings by shrinking the images inside the PDF, not by turning pages into pictures. That also means you can compress a scan after running OCR PDF on it without losing the recognised text.
If a file is already as small as it can get, Papermint returns the original rather than a bigger copy.
Still too big?
Try the next level down, or split the document. Split PDF can cut a long file into parts that you send in separate emails. You can also skip the attachment altogether: after any tool finishes, Copy share link gives you a private download link to paste into your email instead. Share links last as long as the file does: 2 hours if you are signed out, 24 hours with a free account.