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The Right Way to Compress PDF on Mac

October 11, 2024 1.7K views

PDF is now a preferred format for educational or official material, presentations, documents, and books. With this format, the material becomes easy to view. Another advantage that comes with using the PDF format is that it is consistent with most devices and operating systems.

PDF format alternately comes in to be handy when notes are taken over iPad. Compression is however required when large files are to be dealt with, or when multiple files are to be managed which takes up additional space on mac. Beyond freeing up storage space, compressed PDF files are easier to send over email. In this article, we will discuss the top PDF compression tools available to us.

1. WPS Office for Compressing PDF

The capability to compress PDF file sizes is present in nearly all PDF editors. But, what makes WPS Office PDF Compressor unique is that it accomplishes the task in merely a few clicks without compromising on the file quality. Another noteworthy feature of WPS Office PDF Compressor is that it makes the services available online as well as offline. Further, a PDF file can be compressed to as low as 25 KBs.

Advanced PDF tools made available by WPS Office deliver the essence to our student and corporate life. By leveraging these features, all tasks associated with PDF can be accomplished easily, and the procedures associated with both, online and offline WPS PDF compressors are more or less the same.

Let us consider how the WPS office can be leveraged for compressing PDFs.

a. Open WPS Office.

b. From PDF Tools, select PDF compressor. This may alternately be accomplished by visiting the WPS PDF compressor online.


c. Browse to the menu option towards the top to open a PDF file.

d. Go to “Tools > Compress”.

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e. A new window will now open where one can select the quality and the location to save. Compression should not take over a couple of seconds.


f. After the compression is through, you can utilize the file by downloading it.

2. Compress PDF with Preview on Mac

“Preview” is Mac’s PDF reader and a dedicated app that you can use to compress your PDF. “Preview” comes pre-installed on all Macs.

The utility of “Preview” comes into the picture if you have no intention of using a third-party solution for compressing your PDF. Now, the versatility of “Preview” is limited but its demarking feature is its ease of use. “Preview” won’t take over a few steps to reduce the size of your PDF file and can be used offline as well.

a. If it is not Preview that you use generally, right-click on your PDF.

b. Now, Open > Preview.


c. Navigate to the top toolbar when the file opens.

d. Now, File > Export.

e. Towards the PDF’s top middle portion, a popup window now opens up.

f. Next to Quartz filter, in the drop-down menu, select Reduce File Size.

g. Save the file.

The right way to determine the size of your file is to right-click on it and select “get info”.

3. Compress Multiple PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Pro


Easily, by using a PDF compressor tool, we can compress a single PDF file. But, Adobe Acrobat Pro is the ideal tool to use if you intend to squeeze more pages or PDFs. Adobe Acrobat Pro is a powerful tool and is used via the following steps.

•  Launch Adobe Acrobat Pro.

•  Open the Optimize PDF tool.

•  Click Reduce File Size.

•  Choose appropriate compatibility settings.

•  Click OK.

•  Write the Name of your file to save it.

4. Using PDFelement

As an all-in-one PDF program, PDFelement lets you view, mark up, edit, convert, print, produce, and share PDF files.

a. Launch PDFelement for Mac.

b. Home window > Open File.

c. Upload the required PDF file.

d. Click on the file uploaded.

e. File > Save as other > Optimized PDF. Different compression options are now visible.

f. Select from among high, low, and medium compression levels and click on Save As.

PDFelement lets you add or remove annotations, sign documents with digital signatures, set passwords, insert watermarks, add bookmarks, connect to documents, and add footers and headers. If you convert your PDF to formats such as Excel and Word, you can rewrite it entirely. Optimization tools are also available to instantly process multiple files. So, large PDFs can also be compressed.

Tips to Downsize PDF Files

In case you edit or create a document that you intend to store as a PDF, it becomes preferable to assume in advance the factors that are likely to make your file too bulky by increasing its size. So, we can benefit from the following tips that make your PDF files as small as possible.

a. Avoiding bulky images in your PDFs is best avoided. If the photos are fewer, the size of your PDF will shrink.

b. Junk pages are best removed.

Compress PDF on Mac with WPS

As the article specifies, several options are nowadays available to compress PDFs. Preview app, which is built in Mac will do the needful for your requirements. Similarly, Adobe offers a preferred online tool to accomplish the needful.

It becomes important to recognize that when you compress the PDF, the quality of the original PDF could be compromised. This is something you’d want to avoid. Business projects and presentations are just a few of the arenas where high-quality PDFs become a must. There could be cases wherein you may feel that storing your PDFs in an external hard drive or a cloud-based backup system is going to be a good idea.

Using WPS Office tools is also a prime way for compressing your stored PDF file. This doesn’t take long and the quality of PDF files is also restored via the advanced solution. To be sure about the performance of the WPS office, you can benefit from the 7-day free trial which is currently Live on the WPS Office website. By downloading WPS Office tools, you can use them offline as well.

15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.