Compress PDF
Reduce PDF file size by compressing images and optimizing internal structures. Ideal for email attachments and web uploads. SnapOtter compresses documents locally on your server, keeping sensitive files private.
Features
- Adjustable compression level to balance quality and file size
- Recompresses embedded images with configurable quality settings
- Removes duplicate objects and optimizes internal PDF structures
- Displays original and compressed file sizes for comparison
- Supports PDFs with mixed content including images, text, and vector graphics
What you can do
- Shrinking a large presentation PDF to fit within email attachment limits
- Compressing scanned document PDFs with oversized embedded images
- Reducing portfolio PDF size for faster loading on a personal website
- Optimizing architectural plan PDFs for sharing with clients via messaging apps
Self-hosted. Your files never leave your network.
SnapOtter runs entirely on your own infrastructure. Files processed with Compress PDF are never uploaded to third-party servers. Deploy a single Docker container and process files with full privacy, no watermarks, and no usage limits. Open source under AGPL-3.0.
Frequently asked questions
- How much can I expect the file size to shrink?
- Results vary depending on content. PDFs with large embedded images often see 50-80% reduction, while text-heavy PDFs see smaller gains. Processing runs entirely on your local server.
- Will compression reduce the visual quality?
- You can control the compression level. Higher compression reduces file size more but may slightly reduce image quality. Text and vector graphics remain sharp. All processing stays on your network.
- Can I compress a PDF with sensitive information?
- Yes. SnapOtter is self-hosted so your documents are processed on your own server and never uploaded to external cloud services. This makes it safe for confidential files.
Ready to try Compress PDF?
Deploy SnapOtter in under a minute. All 157 tools included. Open source and free forever.