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Make PDFs fit upload limits.
Choose a PDF, set the target size, and download a smaller file that is ready to upload.
Result
Ready to download
Original
Compressed
Saved
Copy the real upload limit
Set the maximum shown by the receiving form, then leave a small buffer when the boundary is strict. PDF Limit compares the generated byte count with your selected target and labels the result Pass or Over target. It does not silently call the closest attempt a success.
Identify the document first
Scanned PDFs are usually full-page images and often have more removable data. PDFs exported from a document editor may already store text and vectors efficiently. Try selecting a sentence in the original: selectable letters are a useful clue that document structure is worth preserving.
Keep text before flattening pages
The first attempt rewrites the PDF without intentionally turning every page into a picture. Prefer that result for resumes, searchable documents, links, forms, and accessible files. Use stronger modes only when a strict size limit outweighs those features.
Know what strong mode changes
Balanced and Strong smaller can render pages as JPEG images at progressively lower resolution and quality. This can reduce scans substantially, but selectable text, fields, links, bookmarks, annotations, layers, digital signatures, and tagged accessibility structure may be lost.
Read an over-target result
If every configured attempt remains too large, PDF Limit returns the smallest version it found and says it is over target. That usually means the page count or visual detail is too high for the chosen boundary. Removing unused pages or exporting from the source can be safer than forcing more blur.
Inspect the exact download
Open the downloaded PDF, confirm every page and its orientation, zoom into small text and signatures, and test barcodes, links, or fields that matter. Keep the original file. A size check cannot decide whether the recipient can still use the document.