Top 10 PDF Minimizer that You Will Love

Margarete Cotty

2021-11-29 13:52:17 • Filed to: Top List of PDF Software • Proven solutions

A PDF minimizer is simply a software tool for PDF compression or file size reduction. For this purpose, you can either use a downloadable PDF minimizer like PDFelement, or you can minimize PDF size online. The tool you use depends on what else you might need for your PDF workflows. For example, if all you need is an easily accessible utility to compress PDFs once in a while, you can consider using a PDF minimizer online. If you frequently do PDF minimizing, an installable desktop application will come in handy.

On the other hand, if PDF compression is just one of the many things you require, you can choose a robust PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat DC, Nitro Pro, or PDFelement. Since each tool or service has its own set of advantages and disadvantages for various scenarios, we've curated the Top 10 PDF Minimizers in this article. These are further split into Top 5 Downloadable PDF Minimizers and Top 5 Online PDF Minimizers.

Part 1: Top 5 PDF Minimizer Offline
Part 2: Top 5 PDF Minimizer Online

Top 5 Downloadable PDF Minimizer Applications

#1: PDFelement

Right at the top of the list is one of the most affordable alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC: PDFelement, available for both Windows and Mac. Boasting a robust feature-set and easy-to-navigate user interface, it allows you to retain the best possible image quality and resolution in the output file, which will be an optimized PDF. Although it contains advanced PDF file size reduction tools, all of that is in the background, leaving the user with a simple tool for powerful and accurate PDF optimization.

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The advantage of using a full-fledged downloadable PDF editor to minimize PDFs is that you will also get access to numerous other tools. Some of these include a PDF creator and editor, a fast and accurate file conversion tool, a security program to protect PDFs, tools for annotating, signing, and sharing PDF files, a comprehensive forms management platform, a plugin for OCR processing, an easy PDF file and page management module, and much more. Here are some of the key advantages listed out for your convenience:

Pros

Full PDF editing suite to add, remove, modify, or replace existing PDF content. It includes the ability to edit images, objects, text, links, embedded media, comments, watermarks, footers, Bates Numbering, pagination, etc.
Add annotations when reviewing a PDF document; choose from dozens of markup options and tools and easily edit your annotations before saving them.
Create PDF documents from hundreds of source file types, such as MS Office files, HTML5, images, and other formats.
Convert a PDF into one of many types so they can be easily edited in their native applications like MS Word, MS Excel, Notepad, etc.
Sign documents with legally valid electronic signatures and protect them with passwords to prevent unauthorized users from viewing, modifying, copying, or printing PDFs.
Easily handle any type of PDF form, convert non-editable forms from other formats, extract PDF data from forms, import and export data, and much more.
Advanced features include converting scanned documents into fully editable and search-friendly archive files. Execute different types of batch processes for large queues of PDFs.
Built-in PDF minimizer to effectively reduce PDF file size for the purpose of emailing documents or sharing them online with collaborators.
Flatten PDF feature to prevent dynamic content such as forms from being edited.
Comprehensive sharing and printing tools for PDF workflows.

Cons

None

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#2: Adobe Acrobat DC

Adobe Acrobat DC and its Pro sibling are highly capable PDF minimizers with a full set of tools for editing, converting, creating, annotating, protecting, forms management, and performing OCR on PDF files. Although Acrobat DC and Pro DC are fairly expensive, they're reliable tools in that they've been around for a long time, with a rich heritage carried over from the days when Adobe first created the PDF file type. But there are some downsides to using Adobe's products. Not only are they expensive compared to other premium PDF editors, but they also lack the finesse and polish offered by tools such as Nitro Pro and PDFelement. That said, Acrobat supports all device types and all the top operating systems, and it is integrated with the Adobe Document Cloud service, making it an ideal collaboration tool.

Pros

Robust PDF creating, editing, conversion, optimization, and other tools.
Full suite of tools for reviewing documents and marking them up with annotations and notes.
Powerful features that let you manipulate and manage PDF files and pages with a simple interface.
Strong encryption for protecting PDFs from unwanted editing or unauthorized viewing.
Batch process tools for various PDF actions.
Advanced features like forms management and OCR.

Cons

Expensive to purchase outright.
Subscription costs are high.
The tool is virtually non-functional if the trial period has expired and you haven't registered the product and activated the subscription.
Cluttered and not a very user-friendly interface; often hard to find specific features and tools.

#3: Nice PDF Compressor

This free PDF minimizer for Windows is a minimalistic and lightweight tool that works well with smaller PDF files and those containing simpler content structures and layouts. Created with the user's needs in mind, this simple but useful tool offers presets based on what purpose the output file will be used for. For example, if you want minimal compression, opt for the Default setting; for high compression, you can choose the Screen setting, which brings the resolution down to as low as 72 dpi, or dots per inch.

Pros

Simple interface with a clear and understandable layout.
Takes up very little space in your hard drive.
Free for any kind of non-commercial use.

Cons

Can't legally be deployed across an organization.
Might not be suitable for heavy workloads.

#4: TalkHelper PDF Converter

This one's actually a conversion tool but the optimization feature is solid and quality is quite high, qualifying TalkHelper for the Top 5 downloadable PDF Minimizer list. This fileminimizer for PDF also allows you to split or combine PDFs, remove password protection, rotate the pages of a document and even extract just the images, but its core function is to create PDFs from other file types and convert PDF into a range of formats. It's a clean tool with literally no learning curve for its user-friendly interface.

Pros

Easy to use.
Additional PDF tools.
Accurate PDF minimizer.
Batch PDF compression.

Cons

No PDF editing or annotation tools.
No form management features.

#5: Cisdem PDF Minimizer

Officially called Cisdem PDF Compressor, this lightweight utility has one of the highest speed and accuracy ratings for batch PDF compression. It's a user-friendly app with a clean look and a slick design. It offers several customization options even when performing bulk PDF compression, and it includes presets for quickly choosing the compression quality and image resolution.

Pros

Quick and convenient way to minimize PDFs in bulk.
Custom settings for file size reduction.
Preset filters make it easier to choose compression quality.

Cons

Available only for Mac computers.
Real-time previews take long to be generated.

Now that we've covered the top 5 downloadable PDF minimizer applications, let's have a look at some online tools to minimize PDF file size.

Top 5 Online PDF Minimizer Web Services

1. Hipdf

HiPDF is a robust and free online PDF minimizer that comes with more than a dozen other tools for PDF editing, conversion, security, and several advanced features. It is essentially a part of the Wondershare ecosystem of PDF tools that include PDFelement, but acts as a standalone free PDF tool. The biggest advantage is that a quick upgrade to HiPDF Pro gives you access to complex tools like OCR and batch processing - all online. Alternatively, you can choose to subscribe to the desktop version, PDFelement, and take advantage of a secure offline PDF tool with full functionality for any PDF task.

Pros

Comprehensive PDF compression tool with several other features.
Several features are fully free to use.
Robust cloud integration.
High-quality PDF minimizer.
Extensive customization options.
Access to desktop version as an upgrade or unlimited free trial.

#2: PDF Pro

Another robust online PDF minimizer is PDF Pro, which is free for up to 3 downloads a month. After that, you can get on a monthly or annual subscription to continue using the service. The site uses HTTPS encryption when you upload your files, and the data is hosted on secure Amazon AWS cloud servers.

Pros

Great PDF compression quality.
Additional tools available for PDF editing (basic), page extraction, PDF conversion, annotations, security, and PDF creation.

Cons

Cloud storage limited to 10GB per subscription.
Desktop software is a separate purchase.

#3: Smallpdf

Smallpdf is a sort of hybrid PDF editor with both online and offline tools. Apart from the PDF minimizer tool, Smallpdf offers a limited range of PDF functions such as editing, reviewing, conversion to and from PDF, splitting/merging, security, unlocking, and e-signing. One stand-out feature is that the utility offers support for two dozen languages, making it ideal for companies with overseas business in non-English-speaking countries.

Pros

Pleasing user interface.
Fast compression with good quality.
Save directly to cloud storage services like Dropbox and Drive.

Cons

At $108 a year for limited PDF functionality, it's definitely on the expensive side.
Lack of comprehensive tools for forms management, OCR, and advanced batch processes.

#4: Sejda PDF Compressor

Sejda PDF compressor is part of a family of online PDF tools for creating, editing, converting, managing, securing, and other functions. The platter of available features is quite impressive, and there's also a desktop version if you're worried about online security for sensitive or confidential PDF documents. The free limits are quite generous as well; the tool allows files of up to 200 pages or 100 megabytes and three files per hour. The upgrades to premium plans are also quite reasonable and available for individuals and teams.

Pros

Good compression quality.
Easy-to-choose options for PDF minimizing.
Upload directly from a cloud storage service.

Cons

Choosing a faster compression speed with make it skip smaller images.
The desktop version requires an annual subscription to web and desktop.

#5: PDF2GO

PDF2GO is a completely online PDF solution for PDF minimizing, editing, conversion, and security. The selection of tools is limited but they have a convenient tiered system for getting more features. Unregistered users have tighter limits on file size and the number of free tasks, registered (free) users get a little leeway on limits and paid subscribers have access to the whole gamut of tools.

Pros

Reasonable restrictions for free unregistered and registered users.
Convert from a URL, local memory, or cloud service.

Cons

A limited suite of tools in the premium plan.
No custom compression settings; just presets for different output devices.
Free versions are ad-supported.

You can use most of the above tools as a PDF minimizer free of cost, either as a standalone tool to shrink PDFs or as a free trial, either online, offline, or a mix of both. Your choice depends on whether or not you require advanced tools for editing, converting, protecting, form management, OCR, batch processing, and so on. In general, desktop PDF tools are more secure because the data never leaves your local computer. In that regard, PDFelement comes highly recommended as a comprehensive and affordable alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC, and both are true cross-platform PDF editors with all the tools you'll need to manage your PDF workload and overall document workflows in a secure manner.

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