PDF UtilitiesPDF CompressorFree Tool

Compress Scanned PDF

Compress scanned PDF documents — which are image-heavy by nature — using compression algorithms suited to scan characteristics like JBIG2 for black-and-white text and JPEG 2000 for colour scans.

How to Use Compress Scanned PDF
  1. 1Upload the scanned PDF (image-based, typically large in size)
  2. 2Choose the scan type: black-and-white text or colour
  3. 3Set the target DPI — 150 DPI for screen use, 300 DPI for printing
  4. 4Click 'Compress Scanned PDF' to process
  5. 5Download the compressed PDF with significantly reduced file size
Examples
  • Compress a 20 MB scan of a multi-page contract to under 2 MB for email
  • Reduce a batch of scanned receipts to a manageable size for expense report submission
  • Compress a 300-DPI archival scan to a smaller size for everyday sharing
  • Reduce the size of a scanned bank statement PDF before uploading to an accounting tool
Frequently Asked Questions

Scanned PDFs embed one or more raster images per page (a photograph of the paper). A regular text PDF stores text as vector data, which is far smaller. A single high-resolution scan page can be 500 KB–2 MB.

JBIG2 (for black-and-white scans) is the most efficient algorithm for text documents — it can reduce page sizes 5–10x with minimal quality loss. JPEG 2000 is better for colour scans.

Yes, as long as the compression level is appropriate. The goal is to reduce resolution to the minimum needed for comfortable reading (~150 DPI for screen, 300 DPI for printing).

Typically 50–80%. A 10 MB scanned contract often compresses to 1–2 MB without noticeable quality loss at screen resolution.

Yes. The OCR text layer is separate from the image. Compressing the image layer does not affect the searchable text.

Yes. Compression runs locally in your browser. No images or file data are transmitted to any server.

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