How to Compress a PDF

You need to email a PDF to someone, but every time you click "Send," you receive an error message, or a few minutes later an email announcing that your file was undeliverable.If you are using a Mac, these instructions will help you in shrinking the size of your PDF file, and enable you to successfully send the document. This is called, compressing a file.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large PDF file

1. Find the PDF file you would like to compress. Open it with the Preview application.

2. 
    

   Choose "File" at the top of your screen, then click "Print." Or, the keyboard shortcut for this same function requires you to hold down the "Command" key while also holding the letter "P" key. A drop-down menu will appear.

3. On the drop-down menu, you will see a button in the bottom left-hand corner labeled "PDF" with a short arrow beside it. Click the button. Another drop-down menu will appear, immediately below the "PDF" button.

4. Click on "Compress PDF," from this drop-down menu. A window will quickly appear on your screen, indicating that the compression is taking place.

5. Next, a "Save" window will appear. Type the name of your file in the box to the right of "Save As:". Choose where you'd like to save the file (on your desktop or in a particular folder). Now click the "Save" button, in the bottom right-hand side of the window.

Tips & Warnings

• If you'd like to check the size of your PDF after following the steps to compress it, simply click the PDF's icon and hold down the "Command" key an the letter "I" key at the same time. A window will appear with details about your file. Under "General," there is a row labeled "Size." This is where you can see how large--and now small--your file is.

[rsheyd]

on 12/1/2009 Should note that this is a mac-specific method of compressing PDFs and cannot be applied to PCs.

[mailman83]

on 10/10/2009 Good tip - thanks. Do you need a full version of Adobe installed to utilize the preview function? My friend has the 9.1 Reader and we cannot find that feature. Thanks.