How Can I Reduce The Size of a PDF?

Jun 10, 2021

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How Can I Reduce The Size of a PDF?


PDF files can come in various sizes as they can contain many different elements like high-resolution images or charts that increase their file size. When sharing or submitting important documents, a PDF file size can hinder its entry into a data management system and prevent users from accessing it. That’s why it is important to know how to compress a PDF to make it more manageable without losing any of its important design elements and features. Many web-based applications, as well as downloadable programs, give users the ability to make a PDF smaller, but they each have distinct methods and processes, which will be explored here.

Avoid Scanning PDFs 


The usual thinking was that large documents needed to be scanned to convert them into electronic documents like PDFs. But that process has become outdated and redundant thanks to the many conversion options that exist for allowing users to convert their original documents into PDF files.

Scanning a document can capture the original elements of a document, which invariably increases the file size and may make it difficult to upload to a server or share via email. Many PDF programs also allow users to merge, split and combine several files into one, which also precludes the need to scan individual texts and then combine them into a single file using an editing program.

Save as “Reduced Size PDF”


One advantage of using the Adobe Acrobat suite of software to create and edit PDFs is the plethora of options it offers. One of those options is giving users an easy option to reduce the size of large PDFs without sacrificing their layout, format, or design elements. Users can simply open the file they want to reduce and save it as a “Reduced Size PDF”.

There are also other ways users can reduce the size or compress a PDF file without using Adobe Acrobat, which may be too expensive or not worth the cost for some users. Many web-based programs give users the option to reduce certain files by simply compressing them into more manageable sizes.

Reduce The Size as You Save in Word


There are also ways to reduce the size of a PDF file within other word processing or document creation programs. Microsoft Word, for example, not only offers users the ability to convert a file into a PDF when saving it but there is also the option to optimize a file to reduce its overall size without eliminating any design features.

The option can be found when saving a file or when sending it to print. There is a dialog box that users can check - “Minimize Size” - that cuts down the overall size to make it easier to send the file to others. But Word is not the only program that lets users reduce the file size of a PDF. Web-based and downloadable programs offer similar options.

Lumin PDF, to use one example, features a very easy-to-use option to reduce a PDF’s size. Users need only upload their files using the Compress feature. Once they have uploaded their file, the compression process will begin. After a few moments, the file will be ready for download or to be shared with someone else.

Use a Print-to-PDF Tool


This feature is a common one among many different word processing and document creation programs. Printing off a document usually gives users many options in how they want the print-out to look. Saving the file as a PDF is one way that users can not only convert their file but reduce its size as well.

There is not one specific program that can offer this option, as so many do, like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, as well as Adobe Acrobat. But if you are using Adobe, then you can simply use the tools that they have to reduce the file size. Other programs like Lumin PDF, for example, also give users the option to split a PDF into smaller pieces by allowing users to remove unnecessary pages, which is another way to reduce the overall file size.

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