How to Compress a PDF on Mac

Audrey Goodwin

2024-04-12 10:55:47 • Filed to: Compress PDF on Mac • Proven solutions

Do you have a large PDF file that is taking too long to upload? You can compress PDF Mac to a smaller size for easier sharing and uploading. Plus, if you have many large files they tend to take up a lot of space on your device, so compressing PDFs helps save storage as well. In this article, we will show you how to make a PDF file smaller on Mac with Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor.

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How to Compress a PDF on Mac

To compress a PDF file on Mac, you need to download PDFelement. It is compatible with macOS 10.14 (Mojave), 10.15 (Catalina) and 11（Big Sur）. Once you have downloaded it, install it on your Mac and launch it under Applications. From there, follow these steps.

Step 1. Open a PDF

In the program window, navigate to the bottom right and click on the "Open File" button. This lets you search for the PDF file you want to compress and open it with PDFelement.

Step 2. Compress PDF Mac without Losing Quality

After editing your PDF file, you can now compress it. Go to "File" on the main menu. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on "Save as Other" > "Optimize PDF". Choose the compression level and check the quality output by clicking on "Preview".

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Step 3. Edit PDF Document (Optional)

Next, you can edit your PDF file. Click on the "Text" button on the top toolbar. A formatting toolbar appears with several editing options. To edit text, place your cursor in the area where you want to modify texts. Double click on it and start typing.

Under the "Image" button, you will also be able to modify images. Move your cursor to the image you want to edit. Double click on it to start making modifications. Finally, if you are satisfied you can then click on "Save As" and rename your PDF file.

Compress PDF on Mac - FAQs

How to Compress Large PDFs on Mac?

PDFelement for Mac is the ideal tool to compress big PDF to 300kb, 100kb, 50kb or a smaller size. It enables you to optimize to a manageable size as it retains the original PDF layout. Optimizing involves choosing a desirable compression rate, which is often based on quality. Additionally, you can personalize the compression through the custom compression settings. Here is how you can compress a large PDF on PDFelement.

Open the large PDF file by clicking on the "Open File" function at the bottom of the program window.
Go to the main menu at the top and click on "File". In the drop-down menu, choose "Save as Other" and then select "Compress PDF...".
Three compression levels, high, low and medium, will appear; select one.
The program will show the compressed file according to the compression rate or level chosen. Conduct a thorough preview by checking everything, including image appearance and layout.

How to Compress PDF File to Smaller Size for Free

Preview, the built-in PDF viewer of macOS, enable you to compress PDF for free.

Open a large PDF file in the Preview app on your Mac.
Select File > Export.
Click the Quartz Filter option, then choose Reduce File Size.

An All-in-one PDF Solution

PDFelement is an ideal software to use when it comes to compressing PDF files. It allows you to optimize PDFs to a manageable size while retaining the layout of the original document. Afterward, it will let you preview the compressed file before saving changes. The great thing about compressing files with PDFelement is that it will show the size it has reduced the file to by percentage. You can also explore other features of this software such as:

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The ability to create PDF files from other existing PDF files, Images, HTML files and screenshots, and more.
The ability to edit images, text, objects, merge files, edit pages, highlight, annotate, add links, and add watermarks.
The ability to convert PDF files to output formats like HTML, Texts, EPUB, PPT, Word, Excel, Images, etc.
The ability to use the OCR feature to make scanned PDFs searchable and editable.
The ability to encrypt PDF files by setting an open password or a permission password.

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