How to reduce PDF size without losing quality
"Without losing quality" depends on what's in your PDF. Here's how to get the biggest saving with no visible change, and how to check it yourself.
Compress a PDF nowStart with the lossless option
pdfSofo's Tidy option rebuilds the file and removes duplicated and unused data without touching how anything looks. For PDFs made by some apps and scanners, that alone saves a lot.
Then only shrink what doesn't need full resolution
Photos in PDFs are often stored at far higher resolution than any screen or printer needs. Email size reduces them to about 150 dpi, which still prints well and looks the same on screen.
Use the preview's Zoom in to compare. If you can't see a difference at the size people will view it, you haven't lost anything that matters.
When not to compress
- Professional printing: keep Original or Tidy.
- Detailed drawings, maps or medical images: check every page in the preview.
Questions
Is lossless compression really lossless?
Yes. Tidy doesn't change any text, vector graphics or images, only how the file is stored.
Do I lose the original?
Never. pdfSofo always makes a new file; your original isn't changed.