How to Compress a PDF File in One Click & Free? Best PDF Reader Free Download!

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a versatile file format independent of the application and platform. It ensures different users can receive the same content with the same formatting and visual presents in various software, hardware, or operating systems. You can also electronically sign a PDF when needed. Thus, PDF documents are universal in academic and formal usage.

PDF files preserve document formatting, making them primarily meant for viewing, not editing. However, the thing is, PDF files can quickly get too heavy. How to compress a PDF file is an unneglectable problem with the file size limitations of email servers, the IRS, the court's case management system, etc.

So in this post, we'll cover how to compress a PDF document with a decent PDF size reducer. So please keep reading and check them out.

What are we talking about when we talk about how to compress a PDF? There are two types of compression in information theory: lossy and lossless.

Lossy compression mostly happens with images and graphics. It involves some loss of information in exchange for reduced file size. Depending on the required quality, some loss of data is acceptable as long as the degradation is not noticed by the end user. And in fact, a well-designed lossy compression algorithm can significantly shrink PDF without resulting in annoying artifacts.

On the contrary, lossless compression does not involve information loss. It is possible due to the fact that there is statistical redundancy in most real-world data. It primarily occurs in documents containing text. Lossless compression removes the redundancy, creates reference points, then brings them back to your PDF.

Improper compression can result in a blurry mess of text or even corrupted files. So how to compress a PDF doc exactly? You'll need a good PDF compressor, like iTop PDF, to handle all these problems.

A lot of PDF files are created from Word documents by users, and there are ways to reduce the file size in some versions of Microsoft Word. You can use Save or Save As to create a new PDF document. However, the "Save As" option always creates a new file while the "Save" option adds whatever changes you make to the original. If this is your case, the following steps show how to compress a PDF file on Windows.

Step 1. Open the Word document that you want to convert.

Step 2. Go to File > Save As from the top menu bar.

Step 3. Select PDF as the file type, then set the file name and save path.

Step 4. Select Minimum size (publishing online) under the Optimize for option.

Images are significant factors that influence the size of your PDF file. A PDF editor makes it possible to compress a PDF file by deleting unnecessary content or images. Follow the steps below for how to compress PDF file size on Windows with a reliable PDF editor, iTop PDF.

Step 1. Free download iTop PDF and install it on your device.

What makes iTop PDF a must-have software?

• Edit PDF smoothly without hassle
• Convert PDF to any format in high quality
• Split and Merge PDF files easily and quickly
• Add e-signature effortlessly to your PDF

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Step 2. Launch iTop PDF and go to the Edit PDF module from the home screen.

Step 3. Click Edit > Edit Content from the top menu bar. Select the content or image you want to delete, then click the delete icon.

Step 4. Use Menu > Save As to save the reduced PDF file.

Some users prefer to compress PDF online as it can be easily done in any browser. As long as you have a stable internet connection, they are indeed good solutions to how to compress a PDF file on PC.

On the other hand, their shortcomings are also distinct. You need to ensure that the website you are using is trusted. Otherwise, you may face the threat of viruses and malware. The compression quality may not be as good as desktop software. And some users may feel uncomfortable uploading a PDF with sensitive data.

Step 1. Visit PDF2go and go to Compress PDF.

Step 2. Click Choose File to upload the PDF you want to compress.

Step 3. Choose a compression mode.

Step 4. Click the green Start button to compress the PDF file online.

As said before, there are two types of compression. Whether it is lossless compression or lossy compression, a good PDF compressor like iTop PDF can perfectly compress a PDF file with super easy steps.

iTop PDF is a PDF editor free to download and use on Windows PC. The minimalist design brings an easy-to-use and smooth experience. It's lightweight yet powerful to support all kinds of PDF files with enhanced readability and better PDF visual presence. In addition to compressing a PDF file, iTop PDF can help you edit a PDF like Word, combine or split PDF without any limit, and convert a PDF to Word in seconds without losing format, etc.

Below are the steps on how to compress a PDF Windows 10 with one click.

Step 1. Download and install iTop PDF to your device.

Step 2. Go to the Compress PDF module from the main interface.

Step 3. Click the ADD FILES button to browse and add the PDF file you want to compress. Dragging and dropping the PDF document to the program also works.

Step 4. Choose a compress level as per your needs.

Step 5. Click Compress to start the compression.

As you can see, this is all about how to compress a PDF file on Windows 10. You can compress a PDF online or in a desktop PDF compressor, iTop PDF. This freeware offers a lightweight one-stop PDF compression solution for Windows PC. Thanks to the unique algorithm, iTop PDF strikes a good balance between PDF file size and quality. Whether you want to compress a PDF file for emailing or archiving, iTop PDF can meet your needs well.