Compress PDF to 500 KB
Bring a PDF with photos or scans under 500 KB, with text left sharp. No upload, no signup, no watermark.
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PDF · up to 10 files, 100 MB each
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A 500 KB PDF that still looks good
500 KB is a middle limit: big enough for a several-page document with pictures to keep looking good, small enough that a phone scan or a report full of photos usually needs shrinking first. This tool aims for 500 KB or less while keeping pictures as large and clear as that allows.
How to use it
- Choose up to 10 PDFs, each up to 100 MB.
- Press Compress to 500 KB.
- Each result's note gives the size before and after, or the smallest size reached if 500 KB wasn't possible.
How the size is reached
Photos and scanned pages are re-saved, first gently, up to 2,000 pixels on their longest side at good quality, which is often already enough for a 500 KB limit. If not, the tool steps down in size and quality until the file fits, and stops there, so no more quality is given up than needed. Text and drawings are never re-saved: they stay sharp at any size and remain selectable and searchable.
Thinking in pages
A limit is shared by every page. At 500 KB, a five-page document of scans leaves about 100 KB a page; a twenty-page one leaves about 25 KB, which means small, soft pictures. So the same limit can be easy for a short file and hard for a long one. If a long document comes out blurry, consider whether every page needs to be sent, and use Split PDF to keep just those.
Signed documents
A PDF with a digital signature can't be compressed without the signature failing its check, because any change to the file breaks it. If you need both, compress the unsigned document first, then sign the compressed copy. Password-protected PDFs are refused: remove the password first.
Good habits
- Merge, then compress. If several PDFs must go as one file, join them with Merge PDF first, so the limit applies to the file you send.
- Check the result at full size, especially receipts, stamps and small print.
- Keep the original. The compressed copy is for sending; the full-quality file is the one to keep.
For more room, Compress PDF to 1 MB keeps more detail; for a stricter form, 200 KB goes further.