Compress PDF

Large PDFs are painful to email and slow to upload. Compressing shrinks the file size so it’s easier to share, while keeping the document readable. ToucanPDF optimizes your PDF locally — a good fit for scans and image-heavy documents that have grown too big.

How it works

1. 1Select the PDF you want to shrink.
2. 2Pick a strategy: “Light” tidies the file structure and keeps text crisp; “Strong” rasterizes pages for a bigger reduction on scanned or image-heavy PDFs.
3. 3Click “Compress PDF” and compare the before/after size before you download.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. Every ToucanPDF tool runs entirely inside your browser using your device’s own processing power. Your file is read into memory, worked on locally, and handed back as a download — it never travels to us or anyone else. You can even go offline after the page loads and the tool still works.

How much smaller will my PDF get?

It depends on what’s inside. Image-heavy and scanned PDFs can shrink a lot; a file that’s mostly plain text is already small, so the savings are modest. We show you the exact before/after size so there are no surprises.

Will compressing reduce quality?

“Light” keeps text and images intact. “Strong” converts pages to images to save more space, which is great for sharing but makes text non-selectable — we say so clearly before you download.