Most oversized PDFs are oversized because of their images. bakepdf finds the embedded photos and scans, re-encodes them at a quality you choose, and leaves the text layer untouched so the document stays searchable and sharp. When a file is beyond saving there is a stronger mode that flattens each page to an image.
This takes a second on the first visit, then it is cached.
Drop in the PDF that is too big to send.
Pick a level. Balanced is the right answer for almost everything.
Compress, and check the before/after before you download.
It depends entirely on what is inside. A scanned document typically drops 60–90%. A PDF that is only text and vector charts may barely move, because there is nothing bulky to squeeze — bakepdf tells you the exact before and after rather than guessing.
Yes, on every level except Extreme. Light, Balanced and Strong only touch the images.
It can happen when the images are already compressed harder than the level you picked. bakepdf keeps whichever version is smaller, so you will never be handed a larger file than you started with.
No. Compress PDF runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly and the Canvas API — the bytes of your document never travel to us. The only thing that reaches our servers is a counter incrementing by one, and whatever you deliberately choose to save to your library.
Not this one. Compress PDF is part of Baker, at $10 a month — along with the other conversion, compression and security tools, and the AI ones. Signing, editing, watermarking, merging, splitting, rotating, organising and cropping are free, three documents a day up to ten pages each, with no account.