Guide
A smaller PDF is not produced by one universal trick. The useful method depends on whether the file contains inefficient structure, large images, or full-page scans.
A PDF library can load a document and save its objects into a new file. This may remove unused overhead or reorganize data while keeping text and page content structurally similar. Savings vary widely because a well-exported PDF may already be compact.
Photos and scans are often stored at more pixels than a portal needs. Reducing their pixel dimensions lowers the amount of image data. This is usually the biggest opportunity in image-heavy files, but it also determines how sharply small text and fine lines survive when zoomed.
JPEG-style encoding represents visual detail approximately. Lower quality values save space by discarding more information. Continuous-tone photographs tolerate this better than tiny type, diagrams, signatures, or high-contrast scans, where artifacts are easier to see.
A rasterized PDF draws each page into a canvas, encodes that canvas as an image, and creates a new PDF from those page images. This gives the compressor direct control over resolution and quality, but it flattens interactive and semantic document features.
The tool tests a text-preserving result first, then explores lower-resolution image versions for modes that permit stronger compression. It keeps track of results against the selected byte target. There is no honest setting that guarantees every document will pass and remain readable.
Use Keep text first for resumes and exported documents; Balanced for ordinary mixed files; Strong smaller for image-heavy scans when the receiving limit is strict. Regardless of mode, review the output because the source file, not the mode label, determines the final tradeoff.