PDF Compression and Optimization

Reduce file size and improve compatibility while maintaining high-quality outputs.

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Programmatic control over optimization workflows

PDF SDK

Choose compression profiles based on target output

Optimize PDFs quickly for print, web, or archiving with different profiles targeted at specific purposes

5 optimization profiles
Programmatic implementation
Scales for high volumes of documents

Start optimizing your PDFs for size and quality with the PDF SDK

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PDF SDK Documentation

Compress files with minimal loss

There are various ways to reduce the file size of PDFs:

Compress and optimize images
Optimize fonts
Remove unused resources
Flatten or remove annotations and form fields

Learn more about achieving high-quality results when compressing and optimizing documents

See documentation

The right compression profile for the job

The PDF SDK offers five optimization profiles. It’s important to choose the right profile, especially if PDF/A conformance is a factor. All but the Archive profile output to PDF 1.7 or higher.

Print

Compress PDFs while maintaining print quality. Removes unused and print-irrelevant resources. CMYK color profile. Does not conform to PDF/A.

Web

Compress while maintaining quality for web viewing. Images recompressed to 150 DPI. RGB color profile. Does not conform to PDF/A.

Minimal

The goal is minimal viable file size. Remove redundant data and reduce image resolution. Removes metadata and output intents. Does not conform to PDF/A.

MRC

Mixed Raster Content (MRC) minimizes size while maintaining text readability. Great for scanned documents with lots of text and very large file size. Does not conform to PDF/A.

For PDF/A conformance, choose the Archive workflow

Only the Archive profile guarantees the preservation of fonts, which makes it the right choice for any documents you later want to convert to PDF/A. The Print, Web, Minimal, and MRC profiles output PDF 1.7 or higher and are not PDF/A-compliant.

Learn more about PDF/A conversion

How does Mixed Raster Content preserve readability?

Mixed Raster Content (MRC)

MRC separates the image of a scanned document into three layers:

paper color
ink color
ink shapes

It then compresses each layer with the codec that works best for that specific type of content. That optimizes compression, resulting in the output having a smaller file size with less loss.

MRC also preserves text readability, so it’s a great choice for scanning text books and similar content with lots of text.