When compression becomes necessary
Email providers and employer portals set attachment limits — often 10 MB or less. Scanned documents, photo-heavy reports, and merged PDFs blow past those caps quickly. Compression reduces file weight so the same content can travel without splitting the message into multiple sends.
Choose the right compression level
Our Compress PDF tool offers low, medium, and high settings. Start with medium for mixed text-and-image files. Use low when fine print must stay sharp for legal or financial review. Choose high only when you must get under a strict limit and can accept softer images.
Prep steps that help more than compression alone
- Remove blank or duplicate pages with Remove Pages.
- Merge only what you need instead of attaching entire archives.
- For scans, crop dark borders first using Crop PDF.
Before you hit send
Open the compressed file and compare it to the original. Check small text, signatures, and chart labels. If anything looks muddy, try a lighter compression pass or trim unnecessary pages instead of pushing compression to the maximum.
Saving both versions — original and compressed — avoids panic if a recipient asks for a higher-quality copy later.