---
title: "Compress PDF in Your Browser, No Upload | ToolSugar"
description: "Make a PDF smaller by redrawing its pages as compressed pictures. Pick a strength, see the new size, and keep the original if it would not shrink."
canonical: https://toolsugar.com/tools/compress-pdf
image: https://toolsugar.com/og.png
---

# Compress PDF

ToolSugar compresses a PDF in your browser by drawing each page as a picture, saving it as JPG at the strength you pick, and building a new PDF. This usually shrinks scans and image-heavy files, but the text is no longer selectable. If the result is not smaller, no file is made.

Runs on your device

## How it works

1. Choose one PDF.
2. Pick Smallest, Balanced or Sharpest. Smaller files look softer.
3. Press Compress PDF and wait while each page is redrawn.
4. Compare the sizes in the result and download the compressed PDF.

## Key facts

- **Method**: Every page is rendered to a JPG and rebuilt into a new PDF
- **Strengths**: 72 dpi at 50 quality, 110 dpi at 65, or 150 dpi at 80
- **Trade-off**: Text, links and form fields become part of the picture
- **Where it runs**: In your browser. The file is not uploaded and no account is needed.

## Common uses

- Get a scanned form under an email or portal size limit.
- Shrink a photo-heavy brochure before sharing it by chat.
- Reduce an archive of scanned pages that will only be read on screen.

## Questions

### Will I still be able to select the text?

No. Pages are saved as pictures, so text can no longer be selected, searched or copied. Keep the original if you need that.

### Why did it say no smaller file was made?

A PDF that is mostly text is already tiny, and a picture of a page is bigger than the text that draws it. The tool compares sizes and refuses to hand you a larger file.

### Which strength should I pick?

Start with Balanced. Use Smallest when the size limit is tight and the pages are only read on screen, and Sharpest when fine print must stay legible.

[Read the Compress PDF guide](https://toolsugar.com/blog/how-to-compress-a-pdf)

## Related tools

- [PDF to Image](https://toolsugar.com/tools/pdf-to-image)
- [Merge PDF](https://toolsugar.com/tools/merge-pdf)
- [Compress Image](https://toolsugar.com/tools/image-compressor)