Scanned documents are notoriously large because each page is stored as an uncompressed or lightly compressed image. A 10-page scanned contract can easily be 50 MB. Here's how to reduce that dramatically.
When you scan a document, each page becomes a full-resolution image — typically 300 DPI or more. This creates files that are 3–10x larger than equivalent text-based PDFs. The compressor re-encodes these images at an optimised quality level, which is where most of the size reduction comes from.
Go to pdfeditor.onl/compress-pdf and upload your scanned PDF.
For scanned documents, the Strong setting is usually the best choice. It re-encodes all embedded images at a significantly reduced quality level while still keeping the text legible at normal viewing sizes.
Tip: If the compressed file looks blurry at normal zoom, try Good instead. Strong compression is designed for documents where size matters more than pixel-perfect image quality.
Download the compressed PDF and open it to verify legibility. For typical business documents, the reduction is 50–80% with no noticeable quality difference at standard screen zoom.
Typically 50–85%. A 40 MB scanned document often compresses to under 8 MB with Strong compression. Results vary based on the original scan resolution and content.
Yes. The compressor targets image data specifically. Text that is part of the image (not real text) may show slight JPEG artifacts at extreme zoom, but is fully readable at normal viewing size.
OCR first, then compress. This way the compressed file will contain both the smaller images and the searchable text layer.