Two modes: Smart Compress keeps your links and text exactly as they are. Max Compress rasterises every page for the same 50-70% size reduction you see on competing tools - your choice.
Upload a PDF, pick a mode, set your quality, and compress.
PDF files often grow to unwieldy sizes (10MB to 50MB+) due to three primary factors: uncompressed high-resolution image scans, embedded vector font subsets, and hidden metadata streams. Understanding how compression works helps you choose the optimal settings for your documents.
Traditional cloud converters force every PDF through a heavy rasterization pipeline. FileSwift provides two distinct mathematical engines depending on your document requirements:
pdf-lib, extracts embedded image streams (DCTDecode), and re-encodes them at your chosen quality setting. Vector line art, text glyphs, hyperlinks, digital signatures, and PDF bookmarks remain 100% vector and interactive.pdf.js and HTML5 Canvas to render each page at 150 DPI into compressed JPEG tiles, then re-assembles them into a fresh PDF using jsPDF. This strips out all complex structural bloat and guarantees 50% to 70% size reduction on heavy scanned files.| Document Type | Typical Raw Size | Smart Compress Output | Max Compress Output | Recommended Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scanned Paper Document (A4) | 8 MB - 25 MB | 3 MB - 6 MB | 600 KB - 1.2 MB | Max Compress (70%) |
| Resume / CV (Word Export) | 2 MB - 5 MB | 300 KB - 600 KB | 400 KB - 800 KB | Smart Compress (80%) |
| Contract / Legal Document | 5 MB - 15 MB | 800 KB - 2 MB | 1 MB - 2 MB | Smart Compress (75%) |
| Photo Album / Presentation | 20 MB - 80 MB | 8 MB - 15 MB | 3 MB - 6 MB | Max Compress (65%) |
When applying for government portals (like CPNS SSCASN, BPJS), university admissions, or corporate job boards, files over 1 MB or 500 KB are often rejected immediately. Here is the recommended workflow to hit tight limits:
Smart Compress works at the PDF object level - it finds embedded images and recompresses them at your chosen quality while leaving text, links, annotations, and form fields completely untouched. Max Compress re-renders every page as a JPEG image (the same approach most online PDF compressors use), achieving 50-70% reduction on most files but producing a flat, image-only PDF where text and links no longer work.
Use Smart Compress for resumes, contracts, government forms, or any document with clickable links and text that needs to remain searchable by ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems). Use Max Compress when you have a scanned paper document or photo-heavy PDF where getting the smallest file size is the top priority.
Yes. FileSwift is 100% client-side. The entire compression process executes inside your local web browser tab using WebAssembly and JavaScript. No document data is ever transmitted across the internet to external servers. You can even disconnect your Wi-Fi or turn on Airplane Mode to verify.
Smart Compress will detect this and return the original file without modification - the output will never be larger than what you uploaded. Max Compress will still reduce the file because it re-renders pages at a controlled resolution regardless of the source.
Encrypted PDFs must first be unlocked before they can be compressed. You can use our free Unlock PDF tool to remove the password restrictions first, and then compress the resulting file.