When you compress a PDF file, you’re essentially reducing the file size using various techniques. This may include various processes that incrementally help reduce the size of the output file to give it a smaller footprint. Why is this important? Since PDFs are widely used to send and receive information through email, chat, web, and other channels, it is important to keep file sizes to a minimum where possible. In addition, smaller file sizes allow you to send multiple documents within the limits that these channels often set for users. For instance, 25GB is the limit for most email clients including Gmail. That’s where the compress PDF feature plays a crucial role. It downsizes the file and allows it to be sent easily over the Internet.
How Does PDFelement Compress PDF?
PDFelement primarily uses three different techniques to ‘Optimize PDF’ so the file size is considerably reduced. The percentage by which a file size is reduced depends on various factors, as we’ll see. First, let’s look at the different ways in which PDFelement can optimize the size of a PDF file.
- Using image compression and resolution downsampling– If a PDF file has images, PDFelement will downsize images to a lower resolution through a process called downsampling. They’ll still be suitable for the web but may not be ideal for printing.
- “Flatting” or Flattening PDF– A second way is to compress multiple layers into a single layer. In order words, you only get what you can see on a printed version of the file. Everything else is removed.
- Removing unwanted content– Things like blank pages, embedded objects, colors, metadata, some font attributes, etc. are eliminated from the file so the space they occupy can be saved and the file size can be reduced even more.
When you combine these three actions, what you get is a very efficient PDF compression tool, which is exactly what Wondershare PDFelement is. Of course, there are several factors to consider when compressing a file.
Factors that Affect PDF Compression
- A file without images may not be compressed to as great an extent as one with lots of images and photos
- A bare-bones text-only file without any graphs or other visual elements will only become smaller by a small percentage
- PDFs without any layered content won’t compress as well as those with rich layers, colors, etc.
How to Compress a PDF to 100KB in PDFelement
Assuming your PDF file is not very large and meets all the criteria for enhanced compression, it can be reduced to as small as a 100KB file. The process is extremely simple and does not involve any complicated steps or settings. Just choose from one of three quality levels and choose a destination folder for the compressed file and you’re done in seconds.
- Open a file using the File → Open menu option or just dragging the file from an Explorer window and dropping it into the PDFelement interface.
- Click File again, but this time, click the Optimize button. You can also choose Tool → Optimize PDF to process a large number of files simultaneously.
- In the window that opens up, choose between High, Medium, and Low compression settings.
- Next, click the ellipsis (…) symbol next to the file path and choose the destination folder for the output file.
- 5.Click the Apply button. The file will be compressed and saved to the desired location.
You can also compress the file on your iPhone on the go.
1.Download PDFelement for iPhone.
2.Open the big PDF file with PDFelement for iOS or iPad.
3.Click More and choose ”Compress” to reduce the PDF file size.
Don’t worry about the original file, which will stay in its location unchanged. The processed file should now be under 100KB if the file was compressible to that degree. Most often, you can compress a file by up to 80% or even as high as 90% with PDFelement. Since PDFs are already designed for compressibility, PDF element compression algorithms build on that and greatly reduce your PDF file’s size.
Tips to Compress PDFs
- Before you compress a PDF file, try and remove any imagery that you don’t need. It will enhance the compressibility of the file.
- Remove any header and footer content that is not relevant to the receivers of the file.
- Use Excel tables instead of graphs
- Reduce color usage – try to keep everything in grayscale
These actions will immediately reduce the size of the file. Using PDFelement to compress the PDF will reduce the size even further by mapping and cataloging the text and feeding it to the viewer when required.
Some Final Thoughts
PDFelement can do so much more than just compress PDF. You can fully edit PDFs (try out the tips above using the trial version of PDFelement), convert them to other formats, add password security for viewing and modifying, add annotations and comments, create, fill, and sign forms, perform advanced text recognition, process files in batches, and much more. With such a versatile tool at your fingertips, you never have to worry about handling any PDF task ever again. Try it today and see how it can immediately and significantly boost your efficiency and overall productivity with PDF workflows. Best of all, it’s great value for money, being the most affordable and comprehensive alternative to more expensive solutions like Adobe Acrobat DC and Nitro PDF.