How to Shrink PDF File Size on Mac: A Comprehensive Guide
Managing the size of your PDF files is crucial, especially when you need to share them over email or upload them to a website with file size limitations. If you’re using a Mac, there are several methods you can employ to reduce the file size of your PDFs. Let’s explore these options in detail.
Using Preview
Preview, the default PDF viewer on Mac, offers a straightforward way to compress PDF files. Here’s how you can do it:
- Open the PDF file in Preview.
- Go to the “File” menu and select “Export PDF…”
- In the “Export PDF” window, choose “Reduce File Size” from the “Format” dropdown menu.
- Click “Export” to save the compressed PDF to your desired location.
Using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is a powerful tool that offers advanced features for compressing PDF files. Here’s how to use it:
- Open your PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
- Click on “File” in the top menu and select “Save As…”
- In the “Save As” dialog box, choose “PDF” as the file format.
- Click on the “Options” button and select “Reduce File Size” from the dropdown menu.
- Adjust the compression settings according to your needs and click “OK” to save the file.
Using Smallpdf
Smallpdf is an online tool that allows you to compress PDF files without installing any software. Here’s how to use it:
- Go to the Smallpdf website and click on the “Compress PDF” option.
- Upload the PDF file you want to compress.
- Select the compression level you want to apply.
- Click “Compress” to start the process.
- Download the compressed PDF file to your computer.
Using Nitro Pro
Nitro Pro is another popular PDF editor that offers a range of features for compressing PDF files. Here’s how to use it:
- Open your PDF file in Nitro Pro.
- Go to the “File” menu and select “Optimize PDF” or “Reduce File Size” (depending on the version of Nitro Pro you’re using).
- Select the compression settings you want to apply.
- Click “Apply” to compress the PDF file.
Using PDFelement
PDFelement is a versatile PDF editor that includes a built-in tool for compressing PDF files. Here’s how to use it:
- Open your PDF file in PDFelement.
- Go to the “File” menu and select “Optimize PDF” or “Reduce File Size” (depending on the version of PDFelement you’re using).
- Select the compression settings you want to apply.
- Click “Optimize” to compress the PDF file.
Using AppleScript
For those who are comfortable with AppleScript, you can create a script to automatically compress PDF files. Here’s an example script:
tell application "Preview" set allPDFs to every document whose name ends with ".pdf" repeat with aPDF in allPDFs set aPDF to open aPDF set aPDF to export (path to aPDF) as "PDF" with properties {file size: 1024} end repeatend tell
Save this script as an application, and you can run it to compress all PDF files in a specified folder.
Comparison Table
| Method | Free | Ease of Use | Advanced Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preview | Yes | Easy | No |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
|
