Why are scanned PDFs so large?

When you scan a document, the scanner captures each page as a bitmap image at high resolution (300–600 DPI by default). These raw image files are then packaged into a PDF — but each image can be 2–10MB per page, so a 30-page scan becomes a 60–300MB file very quickly.

Will compressed scanned text still be readable?

Yes, for most compression levels. At medium compression, scanned text is typically readable at normal viewing sizes. Only at maximum compression does text in very small fonts start to appear slightly blurry — still legible but not print-quality.

Does compressing a scanned PDF make it text-searchable?

No. Compression only changes image quality and encoding — it does not add OCR (optical character recognition). The PDF will still contain images, not selectable text, after compression. For searchable PDFs, you need an OCR tool.

My scanned PDF is 200MB. Can FixTools compress it?

FixTools can handle large scanned PDFs in the browser, but 200MB+ files may strain device memory, especially on mobile. Try splitting the document into 20–30 page segments with the PDF Splitter, compressing each segment, then reassembling with the PDF Merger.

What DPI does FixTools compress scanned PDFs to?

The medium compression setting targets approximately 100–120 DPI, which is adequate for screen reading and standard office printing. High compression targets around 72–96 DPI, suitable for on-screen use only.

Is there a difference between compressing a scanned PDF and a native PDF?

Yes — scanned PDFs compress much more aggressively because their content is raster images. Native PDFs (created digitally from Word, Excel, etc.) contain vector text and graphics that compress less but degrade less visibly too.

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Compress Scanned PDF Files

Scanned PDFs are fundamentally different from text-based PDFs — each page is a raster image, typically 200–600 DPI, which is why a 10-page scanned document can easily be 20–50MB. FixTools compresses scanned PDFs by re-encoding the embedded images at a lower resolution and quality, achieving dramatic file size reductions while keeping text legible.

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Cost: Free forever
Sign-up: Not required
Processing: In your browser
Privacy: Files stay local

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Handles image-heavy scanned documents

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Significant compression ratios (50–80% smaller)

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Text remains legible after compression

PDF Tool

PDF Compressor

All processing happens in your browser — your files are never uploaded to any server.

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How to use this tool

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For scanned PDFs, use medium or high compression. Since every page is an image, the compression effect is much greater than for text PDFs — even a modest setting can halve the file size.

How It Works

Step-by-step guide to compress scanned pdf files:

1
Upload your scanned PDF
Open the PDF Compressor and upload your scanned PDF. Large scans may take a few seconds to load into the browser.
2
Select medium or high compression
Choose medium compression first. For scanned documents, this typically reduces file size by 50–70% while keeping text readable.
3
Compress the file
Click "Compress PDF" and wait. Scanned PDFs take slightly longer to process because each page must be individually re-encoded.
4
Check readability
Open the compressed PDF and zoom in on a text-heavy page. Confirm that the text is still clear enough for your use case.
5
Re-compress if needed
If the result is still too large, apply high compression. If text becomes illegible at high compression, use the PDF Splitter to compress sections separately.