How To Compress A PDF File With Preview On Mac

If a PDF file has not been created with the correct compression techniques it can lead to large and impractical file sizes. I first came across this problem when I used my Epson WF3520 printer to scan several pages in to a PDF file. The resultant file was a massive 80MB which was impractical. Instead of using third-party software on the web or Mac app store I prefer using OS X’s capabilities to carry out tasks rather than clog my machine with applications that have limited use and support.

This tutorial uses the built in Preview application on most modern Mac computers to compress and reduce the size of PDF files.

How to compress a PDF file with Preview on Max OSX

This tutorial has been tested on OS X 10.9 Mavericks and 10.10 Yosemite, however it should also works on most other modern versions of OS X that have Preview.

Step 1: Locate your PDF file. Double click to open it in Preview. If PDFs have not been set to automatically open in Preview, you’ll need to Right Click and select Open With and then Preview.

How To Compress A PDF File With Preview On Mac Step 1

Step 2: With the file now open in Preview, click File and then Export.

How To Compress A PDF File With Preview On Mac Step 2

Step 3: In the new window that appears, give your file a name and location, and then under Quartz Filter select Reduce File Size. Click Save and your newly compressed PDF file will be placed in the location you selected.

How To Compress A PDF File With Preview On Mac Step 3

In our tests, we managed to reduce an 80MB file to 600KB.

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