Compress PDF files to meet e-filing upload limits. Choose a compression level, then download the reduced file. All processing happens in your browser — your files never leave your device.

1. Select Document

Choose a PDF file or drag it here
Your document never leaves your browser.

2. Compression Level

Select a PDF to begin compression

About PDF Compression

Why Compress PDFs for E-Filing?

Most courts impose upload size limits — often 10MB, 25MB, or 50MB per filing. When a PDF exceeds the limit, it must be reduced before it can be submitted. Our compressor renders each page at a lower resolution and rebuilds the PDF from those images, achieving significant file size reductions while keeping the document readable for court purposes.

How Does PDF Compression Work?

This tool uses a rasterize-and-rebuild approach: each PDF page is rendered to a canvas at the selected DPI using pdf.js, converted to a compressed JPEG image, then assembled into a new PDF using pdf-lib. The output file contains images of your pages rather than the original vector/text content.

Light Compression (200 DPI)

Renders pages at 200 DPI with high JPEG quality. Suitable when you need a small reduction — documents remain sharp and suitable for printing.

Medium Compression (150 DPI)

The best balance of size and readability for most e-filing purposes. Typically achieves 40–60% reduction while keeping text legible on screen and in print.

Heavy Compression (100 DPI)

Maximum file size reduction. Output is readable on screen but may appear soft in print. Use only when you need to meet a strict size limit.

Privacy First

All processing happens entirely in your browser. Your PDF is never uploaded to any server — suitable for confidential, privileged, and attorney-client materials.

When to Use PDF Compression

  • E-filing over the limit: Court filing portals that reject uploads above 10MB or 25MB
  • Email attachments: Reduce PDFs to stay under email size caps
  • Scanned exhibits: Compress scan-heavy PDFs that balloon in size
  • Batch filing: Reduce total filing size across multiple documents
  • Client portals: Make large PDFs easier to share through document portals with size limits

Note on Text Searchability

Because compression converts pages to images, the resulting PDF will not have searchable or selectable text. If your original document is already a scanned image PDF, this has no practical effect. For text-based PDFs, consider whether your court or recipient requires text-searchable output before compressing.