5 Easy Ways to Reduce, Compress &
Zip PDF Files Free
PDF compression software makes it easy to manage huge PDF documents which contain tons of images, forms, scan pages, graphics, tables, texts, and so on. They help you to reduce PDF file size without sufficient quality loss and send files via email or chat apps upload to File sharing sites or simply store on your hard drive. There are many free and paid PDF optimizers that promise to shrink portable document format files up to 50%. So don’t skip this post to find a right PDF resize for you.
SEE ALSO:
How to Reduce Video File Size Easily
1. WINRAR
2.
WinRAR is one of the most well-known file compression software
among Windows PC users. The software lets you open and create your own
archived files. It’s pretty much impossible to use a computer for a long
time and never meet this program. WinRar integrates into the context menu
and makes it easy to archive a file at any moment. The software can set
password protection, divide archive in several volumes or add files to already
existing archives with the help of drag-n-drop function.
3.
WinRAR easily opens all most popular formats, including PDF
files, and zips them into tiny RAR or ZIP archives. Simply,
right-click on your PDF file and select the option Add to archive. Then you’ll see a PDF settings window. There you should
choose “Best” as a
compression method to make the smallest PDF file and click the OK button. If you need to
resize PDF for email, use the Compress
and email option, so that WinRAR
automatically attaches your documents to email.
4.
Unfortunately, the software is not free. You are allowed to use
a 40 day trail version after what you’ll
be asked to pay $29.
2. 7-ZIP
7-Zip is free
cross-platform open source compression software, which is famous for
introducing .7z format to the computer world. The tool workflow is similar to
WinRAR. Although the interface of 7-Zip is not too modern and requires time to
deal with, the PDF archives created with it seem to be 40% smaller, than
those of WinRAR and WinZip. The software also gives you a possibility to
protect your reduced PDFs with password and to integrate with
Outlook.
Download
7-Zip for Windows, Mac or Linux HERE
3. SMALLPDF
SmallPDF.com is an
online service that lets you reduce PDF file size instantly. You don’t have to
install anything on your PC, Mac, iPhone, or Android. All you have to do is to
upload an original big PDF file from your computer or Google Drive/Dropbox and
wait a few moments. The service is tremendously fast. It takes about 30 seconds
to process an 8 page PDF document. The scaled-down PDF will be downloaded
automatically onto your PC or saved into your cloud storage folder. If you
enjoy SmallPDF work, you can make a donation to support the developers.
SmallPDF.com is an online service that lets you reduce PDF file size instantly. You don’t have to install anything on your PC, Mac, iPhone, or Android. All you have to do is to upload an original big PDF file from your computer or Google Drive/Dropbox and wait a few moments. The service is tremendously fast. It takes about 30 seconds to process an 8 page PDF document. The scaled-down PDF will be downloaded automatically onto your PC or saved into your cloud storage folder. If you enjoy SmallPDF work, you can make a donation to support the developers.
4. NUANCE POWER PDF
Nuance Power PDF is a top class paid solution with
inbuilt OCR features for those who manage PDF files on a regular basis. The software
offers all sorts of features: PDF scans, optimization, splitting, merging,
encryption, watermarks, etc. Nuance Power PDF is capable of making smaller
PDF documents and work in batch mode. If you have to resize many files, Nuance
is right for you. Unlike WinRAR or 7-Zip, Nuance Power PDF doesn’t wrap PDF
files, it reduces PDF file itself with no quality loss. So if you need to
create a real searchable PDF documents out of scan images, try Nuance software.
Here’s a good video overview of top Nuance features:
5. IRFANVIEW
If
you try to optimize PDF files created out of images like scans, you’d
better check IrfanView image viewer. This is an image viewer, but
if you install a free plugin from the official site, IrfanView will be able to
turn your huge PDFs into light-weight documents. If you have just a set of scan
images, you can resize them in IrfanView, and then convert them into PDF.
But if there’s a ready PDF file, then drag and drop it into IrfanView, go to File
> Save as and
select the PDF as output file type. Immediately,
the PDF settings window will pop up. Here you can adjust PDF compression
levels from good to really low and save a smaller PDF file. The result of
the compression will depend on your settings. If you choose the lowest quality,
you’ll save up to 50% of file size, but sacrifice its quality.
VERDICT
There are 3 ways to deal
with PDF file size reduction: archiving, image resizing, PDF file shrinking.
It’s up to you to decide which option to choose and what quality you need.
Tell us in comments what’s best for you. Do you know any other solution to squeze
PDF files?