What makes a PDF heavy
Nearly all of a PDF’s weight is usually in its embedded photographs. Text and vector graphics take very little space, even in a long document. That is why a forty-page report without images weighs less than a single high-resolution scanned page.
Snipshed recompresses the document’s JPG photos at a lower quality and reduces their resolution when it exceeds what a screen needs. Text, visible links and vectors are not touched, and everything happens in your browser: the file is not uploaded to any server.
Choosing the level
Gentle keeps nearly all detail and suits documents that will be printed. Balanced is the recommended option for email and forms: it usually cuts the weight substantially without visible differences at normal size. Maximum prioritizes size and can show artifacts in photos with fine detail, so it suits drafts or reading on a phone.
If the result does not satisfy you, go back to the original file. Compressing the same result repeatedly accumulates quality loss and almost never reduces it further.
When it does not shrink
A text-only PDF, one with already heavily compressed images or with black-and-white scans stored in other formats has little room. In that case the tool says so and creates no file, so you do not receive a copy equal to or larger than the original.
Before compressing, check whether you can remove unnecessary pages with Delete PDF pages or split the document into parts with Split PDF. Sometimes a form’s limit is solved by sending only what is needed.
- Open the Compress PDF tool and select the document.
- Keep the Balanced level and select Compress PDF.
- Compare the size before and after and open a page with photographs.
- If loss is noticeable, repeat from the original with the Gentle level.
Criteria for reviewing and delivering the result
One last piece of advice: always keep the original. The compressed copy loses some photo quality and cannot be restored. Save it under a different name, such as report-compressed.pdf, and send that version only when the size demands it. If the recipient is going to print the document, ask whether they prefer the full version and offer a separate download link.
A report with photographs to send by email
Select a PDF with photos that weighs several megabytes, keep the Balanced level and select Compress PDF. If you do not have one, create one with Images to PDF from three phone photos.
The tool shows the size before and after and the percentage saved, and offers the copy to download. A photo PDF usually ends up at between a fifth and a third of its size.
Open the copy and compare a page with photographs against the original. Also check the page count. If the result does not shrink or the notice says it is already optimized, that is expected: no file is created.
View tool screenshot
