PDF Compressor: Reduce PDF File Size in Bulk

PDF Compressor compresses PDF files from URLs in bulk and reduces PDF size by downsampling and re-encoding the images inside them with Ghostscript. Give it a list of PDF links, pick a preset, and get back smaller PDFs with a signed download link, the original and new size in bytes, the percent saved and the method used. You pay only for PDFs that actually got smaller.

Use it as a PDF compressor API in a pipeline, to compress PDF archives before emailing or storing them, or to reduce PDF size for web and mobile.

Features

• Real compression, not just repacking. Scanned or image-heavy PDFs shrink a lot (often 50-90%) because embedded images are downsampled and recompressed. Fonts are subset and duplicate images are merged.
• Four presets: screen (smallest, about 72 dpi images), ebook (balanced, about 150 dpi, default), printer (about 300 dpi), light (near-lossless, smallest savings).
• Never makes a file bigger. If the result is not smaller, you get the original bytes back, reduced: false and a note, and you are not charged.
• Honest numbers per file: originalBytes, compressedBytes, savedPercent, method.
• Bulk: hundreds of PDFs per run, processed in parallel; one bad file never stops the batch.
• Encrypted PDFs: give the password; the output is not encrypted. Without it you get a clear error for that file.
• Safe caps: maximum file size, maximum pages per file, and a timeout per file.
• Dropbox and Google Drive share links (public files) are converted to direct downloads.

How to compress PDF files in bulk

1. Paste your PDF links into PDF URLs (one per line).
2. Choose a Compression preset. Start with ebook; use screen if you want the smallest file.
3. Run the Actor. Open the Compressed PDFs table in the Output tab and click Download, or fetch the dataset through the API.

Input example

{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com/reports/annual-report.pdf",
    "https://example.com/scans/contract-scan.pdf"
  ],
  "preset": "ebook",
  "maxFileSizeMb": 50
}

Output example

{
  "index": 0,
  "status": "ok",
  "sourceUrl": "https://example.com/scans/contract-scan.pdf",
  "fileName": "contract-scan-compressed.pdf",
  "downloadUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/.../records/0000-contract-scan-compressed.pdf?signature=...",
  "reduced": true,
  "originalBytes": 8421337,
  "compressedBytes": 1203455,
  "savedPercent": 85.7,
  "method": "ghostscript /ebook",
  "preset": "ebook",
  "pageCount": 12,
  "note": null,
  "error": null
}

A file that could not shrink comes back like this, free of charge:

{ "status": "ok", "reduced": false, "originalBytes": 41233, "compressedBytes": 41233, "savedPercent": 0,
  "method": "ghostscript /ebook (no gain, original kept)",
  "note": "Already well optimized: compression did not make this PDF smaller, so the original file is returned unchanged and you are not charged. ..." }

How to reduce PDF size for email

Most mail servers reject attachments over 10-25 MB. Use the screen preset for scans and photo-heavy decks: images drop to about 72 dpi, which is fine on a screen but soft in print. For documents you will print, use printer or light.

How to compress an encrypted PDF

Set PDF password (optional). It is applied to every file in the run and is never logged. The compressed copy is written without encryption and the row says so in note. If the password is missing or wrong, only that file fails, with a clear message.

How much does it cost

Pay per event: $0.008 per PDF that gets smaller (event pdf-compressed, $8 per 1,000). PDFs that cannot be reduced (returned unchanged) and failed files are free. There is no start fee. Platform compute for the run is small: a typical PDF takes a few seconds. A free test run on the default input costs a fraction of a cent.

Set a maximum spend in the run options and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

FAQ

How much will my PDF shrink? It depends on the content. PDFs with large images (scans, photos, slide decks exported at high resolution) often drop 50-90%. PDFs that are mostly text, or were already optimized, shrink little (0-10%) and some cannot shrink at all. Those come back unchanged and free.

Will the quality suffer? Text and vector graphics stay sharp. Images are lowered in resolution and quality depending on the preset: screen is visibly softer, ebook is fine for reading on screen, printer and light keep print quality.

What happens if the compressed file is larger than the original? You get the original file back, reduced: false and an explanation, and you are not charged.

Does it work on password-protected PDFs? Yes if you provide the password. The output is unencrypted. Permission-only restrictions (no password to open) are handled the same way.

What are the limits? Default 50 MB per file (hard maximum 300 MB), 500 pages per file, 180 seconds per file. Files above the limits are reported as errors and not charged. The PDF must be reachable by a plain download link; links that need a login are not supported.

Which engine is used? Ghostscript (-dPDFSETTINGS presets), followed by an object-stream optimization pass. If Ghostscript cannot process a file, the Actor falls back to a built-in optimizer that recompresses large images as JPEG; the method field always tells you which one ran.

Related tools

• Extract Zip Files: unpack ZIP archives full of PDFs before compressing them.
• PDF to Text & OCR: extract the text of your PDFs, with OCR for scans.
• PDF Merger & Splitter: merge or split PDFs, then compress the result.