The short answer
Open PDF Studio’s compress page, add your PDF with “Choose files” and pick the limit you need, for example “Under 2 MB”. Select “Create PDF”, check the size shown under “Your PDF” and download it. Text pages stay sharp; photos and scanned pages get smaller first.
Open the free toolSee the steps in action
A short recording of our tool, without sound. Turn on captions for the steps in your language. The written instructions below cover the same process.
Open or download the video · 0.2 MB · 16.92 s
Each step is also explained in writing.
- Add the example PDF. Its large photos make it about 5 MB.
- Choose “Under 2 MB” as the size limit.
- Create the PDF. Photos get smaller first; text stays sharp.
- Check the new size before you send the file.
- Download the smaller PDF and open it once to check it.
Try the sample fileOur own sample. No personal data.
Why your PDF is so large
A text page made in a word processor needs only a few kilobytes. A scanned page is a full photo of the paper, often several megabytes at high resolution. Phone scanner apps and multifunction printers usually save such pages, and five of them easily pass the limit of an application portal.
Photos placed in a document have the same effect. That is good news: pictures can lose a lot of file size before anyone notices, while the readability of the text does not change.
Compress the PDF in four steps
Add the PDF
Select “Choose files” and pick your PDF. Every page appears as a preview. Photos (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC) can be added too and become pages.
Choose the limit
Under “Size limit”, choose what the receiver allows: “Under 10 MB”, “Under 5 MB”, “Under 2 MB” or “Under 1 MB”. “Original quality” keeps everything as it is.
Create the PDF
Select “Create PDF”. Scans and photos get smaller first – also photos inside text pages – while the text itself stays sharp and selectable.
Check and download
Read the new size under “Your PDF”, then choose “Download PDF”. Open the file once and zoom into small print before you send it.
If the PDF is still too large
PDF Studio keeps the text of every page exactly as it is and stores large photos on those pages smaller, just like scans. What it cannot shrink are fonts, vector drawings and lots of text. If the file still misses the limit, it tells you the smallest size it reached and what you can do next.
- Remove pages the receiver does not need, such as blank backs of a scan.
- Turn on “If needed, turn text pages into images too”: much smaller, but that text can no longer be selected or searched.
- Choose a higher limit if the portal allows it, or send the document as several files with “One PDF per page (ZIP)”.
Typical limits and the right choice
Gmail accepts attachments up to 25 MB in total, and many other mail services stop at a similar size. A PDF under 10 MB travels comfortably and opens quickly on a phone.
| Where it goes | Choose |
|---|---|
| Job or university portal with 2 MB | Under 2 MB |
| Online form with 5 MB | Under 5 MB |
| Email attachment | Under 10 MB |
| Archive or printing | Original quality |
Your documents stay on your device
Contracts, payslips and ID scans should not travel through an unknown server just to get smaller. PDF Studio does all of the work in your browser: the file is read, rebuilt and saved on your device, and nothing is uploaded.
Questions you might still have
Is compressing a PDF free?
Yes. PDF Studio is free, without account or watermark, and works with several files up to 300 MB in total.
Will the text become blurry?
No. Text pages stay as they are and remain sharp and selectable. Only photos and scanned pages are reduced, and only as far as your limit requires.
Can I compress a PDF on my phone?
Yes. Open the page in your phone’s browser and choose the PDF from your files. Large scans take a little longer on a phone than on a computer.
Sources & useful details
- Google Gmail Help: Attachment size limits
- ISO 32000-2: Document management – Portable document format (PDF 2.0)
- MDN: Image file type and format guide (JPEG)
The screen recordings show LoschaZ tools using sample files created for these guides. They are demonstrations, not tests on every phone or promises of an identical result. Examples are not customer files.
