How Do I Make a PDF Smaller? Zip?

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Blocked Profile - Mar 4, 2008 at 11:24 AM
 NH - Jun 27, 2010 at 07:32 AM
How Do I Make a PDF Smaller? Zip?
I have a PDF document that I need to upload that is 3.75mb. The website will only allow me to upload files 3.0mb or less.

I do not have software to alter the PDF, but was wondering if there is another work-around such as a zip/unzip.

How might I be able to do get this document uploaded?
Related:

12 responses

On a Mac, go to HELP and type "compression" and an option will appear
To Compress a PDF file

Instruction:
  • 1.Open the PDF file and choose FILE > save as
  • 2. Choose Reduce File Size from the Quartz Filter pop up menu.


This reduced my large file to 2.8 MB it works
141
Whew, this one helped me. Thanks rho ^^
0
Worked the very first time and didn't over challenge my non-technological brain.

Many thanks!!!
0
This has really saved my bacon! Took a pdf chock full of photos and reduced it from 116 MB to 1.2 MB. Whew! And such a simple solution for us Mac folk. Many, many thanks.
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computergal1980
Feb 27, 2010 at 04:18 AM
This was the BEST TIP for MAC users to reduce a pdf file size. Highly recommend! My pdf. doc went from a 30MB to a 4.5MB. Thanks for the great info!
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tub_half_full
Mar 21, 2010 at 09:16 AM
Brilliant! I'd been looking how to do this for hours and this worked in seconds- ace!
0
Easier then all of that,

Acrobat 9, Click on Document>then Reduce Pdf Size> then will prompt to click which version or later to reduce, pick any, doesnt really matter> then pick where you want to save it, and voila. Let it reduce it, takes 1-2 minutes and voila your done !

This retains the quality but removes all the background junk that there is in PDFs. I just did a 13mb file down to 800kb file, works great !
70
Great tips!! Thanks!!
0
My quality reduces dramatically. Why is this?
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BS not all OS are the same voila my butt.
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1. From within Pages or any other application you're creating a PDF from, click on "Print" in the File pull-down menu.
2. In the Print dialog box, click on the third pull-down menu box ("Copies and Pages"). Select "ColorSync" from the pull-down menu.
3. Click on the "Quartz Filter" button and select "Reduce File Size."
4. Click "Save as PDF."

In the case of my three-page brochure, the resulting PDF was only 227KB (rather than 10MB).
28
I'am trying to make pdf smaller. currently is 9.8mb but I don't see any colorsync nor quartz filter. is it because only Mac has those build into system?
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firebird > roadrunner
Feb 12, 2009 at 07:03 PM
These other suggestions didn't help me. Didn't find anything in the Print dialogue box and I didn't want to download and pay for Acrobat. SO, I figured it out one way, although this might not help you because I was working with a JPG I had converted to a PDF via CutePDF (a great program). I went back to the JPG and opened it with Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Within this program, go under the dropdown menu under 'Picture'. At the very bottom you will see 'Compress Pictures...' Click on that and a dialogue box will open to your right. You can compress for Documents, Web pages, and Email messages. I just chose 'Documents' and saved it in a new file. This transformed my 4.69MB JPG file to a 216 KB file without any obvious depreciation in quality. I then converted this to a 381 KB PDF. I was ecstatic...
0
this did the job 4 me, thanks!
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Thanks, this worked perfectly! Went from 8.8 mb to 104 kb!
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Truth Be Told
Mar 25, 2010 at 01:28 PM
There is no "third pull-down menu" in the Print dialog box. You must be referring to a specific application even though you wrote "or any application." These choices of "ColorSync," "Quartz Filter," etc. do not exist in just any aplication.
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Interesting Solution
Dec 20, 2009 at 10:46 PM
What I did was open the PDF and then print to PDF. It reduced the PDF from 8MB to 250KB!
(this will only work if you have a PDF "Printer" already installed. I used Adobe PDF converter.)
14
I'm working on a Mac. I couldn't do this using Adobe but I Control Clicked on the PDF and opened it with Preview which then gave me the Save As options mentioned in other postings - including reduce size. It went from 18MB to 112 kb!
0
this works!!!!!
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I did this but it made the document blurry. Any tips?
0
It made mine blurry too...
0

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If you have Distiller, it is quite simple.

Save the PDF as a .ps file in Acrobat Reader.
Open Distiller, and under Settings->Job options->Compression, specify your downsize resolution.
If you want a PDF for viewing on monitor only, downsize all graphics to 72 dpi, or 90 at most.
That will probably reduce your file quite a bit.

After setting the options, open the .ps file in Distiller, and it will spit out a much smaller PDF.
Note, that it might get the same name as the original, so make a copy of the original, so that you don't overwrite it. The process is irreversible :-)

BR
Viggo
9
save as jpg, making the size as small as possible and then save back to PDF.
9
carlos_raul_n
Apr 16, 2010 at 11:57 AM
Have you ear about DjVu? is a GNU compresion tool similar to PDF, who is rapid taking place over PDF files. Primary reason: typically DjVU files are at least 5 times smaller than PDF files for the same document, DjVU viewer is a Add-on that installs itself and you can convert wherever you want to DjVU for free.

http://djvu.sourceforge.net/
http://djvu.org/resources/whatisdjvu.php
5
Open the pdf in acrobat. Choose "save as" and save over the original document. And voila! The file size is smaller. If you simply choose "save" rather than "save as" the file size will remain the same.
4
Printing to Primo PDF worked great for me! I had a document that was saving as 38 MG!! This fixed the problem.
3
Open your PDF, go to Print, print using "Cute PDF Writer" (yes, slyfox-ly converting your PDF into yet another PDF) and it'll somehow shrink it way down. Mine went from 9MB to 6MB. It may or may not continue to downsize the more you do each new PDF.
1
this worked well! basically re-pdf your pdf and it shrinks it A LOT. Thanks!
1
crazy_phoebe Posts 98 Registration date Wednesday February 20, 2008 Status Member Last seen February 6, 2009 2
Updated on Nov 27, 2018 at 05:01 AM
>Hello!

Thats very easy !

first solution download winrar, its a free software that will allow you to compress the file and make it become more smaller !!

Second solution ! if possible, open the PDF file , and reduce the quality of the file! automatically the size of the file will become smaller.

Always happy to help!!
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state-of-mind
May 15, 2009 at 06:33 PM
Does Winrar work for Mac?
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mad_diane180 > state-of-mind
Jan 13, 2010 at 01:17 PM
Nope, you need to download UNRARx, this one works great. And Stuff it works too.
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By downloading winrarx and compressing the file, the receiver will in what format? I want them to receive in same pdf format.
0
Try SimplyRAR, it work on MAC OS :)
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