Gmail, Outlook, and ticket systems
Shrink a PDF so it actually sends
A scan that looked fine on disk can bounce at 25 MB, or get stuck in a help-desk form that quietly caps attachments. This page tries to shrink the file in your browser. You always see original size next to the new size. If it did not help, keep the original.
Compression runs in this tab. Your PDF is never uploaded. Results vary; we show both sizes.
No files yet. Drop them above. They stay in this tab and are never uploaded.
Honest note: browser compression is best-effort. Photo-heavy PDFs often shrink; text-only files may not. You’ll see original vs new size when it’s done.
When to use this
Use this when the constraint is the mail server, not print quality. Gmail’s attachment cap is 25 MB; many ticket systems and school portals are far stingier.
Flatten pages to JPEG is pre-selected because photo scans are what usually bounce. That path typically shrinks more, and text becomes a picture. If you still need to copy-paste clauses, switch to shrink embedded images.
Browser compression is honest best-effort. A text-only contract may barely move. We show both sizes so you can keep the original.
How to do it
- Drop the PDF that bounced or would not attach.
- Leave flatten on for scans. Switch to shrink images if you must keep selectable text.
- Start with a smaller max edge and the Smaller JPEG setting if it is still huge.
- Compare original vs new size. Download only if it actually helped, then attach.
Tips
- A 40-page phone-photo “scan” is a stack of camera JPEGs. Flatten is the usual win.
- If one chapter is the heavy part, extract those pages first, compress that slice, then merge back.
- Do not run four compressors in a row. Start from the original scan.
Questions
- Why did Gmail still reject it?
- Some inboxes count the encoded size, not the file on disk. Try a smaller max edge, or extract only the pages that matter.
- Will flattening make the email unreadable?
- At the Smaller JPEG setting, photos look a bit softer. Body text on a scan is usually still readable on a phone. Zoom a page before you send a contract.
- Is the PDF uploaded to compress it?
- No. Encoding happens in this tab. We never receive the file.