How to reduce PDF file size without rasterizing pages
Compare PDF optimization with image compression, keep selectable text when possible, and choose settings for scanned documents.
Steps at a glance
- Choose your PDF and confirm server-processing consent.
- Try optimization first; use image mode only if its tradeoffs are acceptable.
- Download the result and check its file size, small text and interactive features.
Start with optimization
A PDF can contain duplicate resources, unused objects, compressed images and selectable text. Making its structure more efficient can reduce its size without turning each page into a picture. The saving depends on how the file was created: a document that is already optimized may not become smaller.
Choose the mode that fits the document
Open Compress PDF and choose “Optimize PDF without rasterizing.” DocVelto rebuilds efficient PDF objects and removes unreferenced resources. If the result is not smaller, the original bytes are kept. This is a useful first choice for reports with selectable text, forms or vector diagrams.
When image compression helps
Scanned PDFs often contain large page images. Image mode renders the visible pages and re-encodes them at 150, 100 or 72 DPI, with a JPEG quality setting. It changes the document: selectable text and interactive features are removed. Try 150 DPI first, check small text and diagrams, and lower the resolution only if the output is still suitable for its purpose.
Review before replacing your copy
Compression supports 10 MB per input file. Image mode supports up to 20 pages; normal PDF processing supports up to 200. The server receives the file after upload consent and deletes temporary job files after processing. Keep your original, compare the output size, and open the downloaded PDF at a readable zoom before sharing it.