PDF to PDF Converter

How to Re-Save and Optimize PDF Files Online

1. Upload Your PDF File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select one or more PDFs from your device. Batch processing is supported — re-flow an entire folder of scanned reports or contracts in one pass.
2. Pick a Compression Type: Default is Screen (Best) — heaviest compression, ~72 DPI, smallest size. Choose Ebook for ~150 DPI suitable for tablets and Kindle, Default for balanced general-purpose output, Printer for ~300 DPI office printing, or Prepress for ~300 DPI with color preservation for commercial print.
3. Set Paper Size, Layout, and Margins (Optional): Pick a paper size preset (Original, A4, A3, Letter, Legal, Tabloid, Ledger, Executive, ARCH A/B, ISO B4/B5, or Screen Size), choose Portrait or Landscape page layout, and select a margin preset — No margin (0"), Narrow (0.5"), Moderate (0.75x1"), Normal (1"), or Large (2x1"). Toggle image transparency between Unchanged and Removed if your PDF embeds PNGs with alpha.
4. Re-Save and Download: Click "Convert" and download your normalized PDF. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Why Re-Save a PDF as PDF?

A PDF-to-PDF conversion is not a no-op. It re-streams the file through Ghostscript-grade tooling, rewrites the cross-reference table, recompresses embedded images, and emits a clean PDF 1.4–1.7 document. That fixes a long list of real-world problems:

• Shrink bloated files for email and upload limits — A 40 MB scanned contract often drops to 4–8 MB at the Screen preset because embedded images get downsampled to 72 DPI and re-encoded with JPEG. Useful for Gmail's 25 MB cap, Outlook's 20 MB cap, and DocuSign's 25 MB envelope limit.
• Repair corrupted or truncated PDFs — If Acrobat throws "There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired," re-saving rebuilds the xref table and object stream from whatever objects can be parsed, recovering most of the content.
• Normalize PDFs from rogue generators — Files produced by old scanners, fax-to-PDF gateways, or buggy Word-to-PDF plugins often violate the spec subtly. Re-saving emits a clean PDF that opens reliably in Preview, Chrome, Edge, mobile readers, and Adobe Acrobat.
• Strip transparency for legacy printers — Older RIPs and office laser printers choke on transparent PNGs embedded in PDFs. Set image transparency to Removed to flatten alpha to white before sending to print.
• Standardize page size for double-sided printing — Mixed Letter/A4 PDFs cause printers to pause for paper tray changes. Re-save with paper size locked to A4 or Letter for a single-tray job.
• Convert print PDFs to ebook PDFs — Take a 300 DPI press-ready PDF (often 80+ MB) and re-encode at the Ebook preset for a ~10 MB file that looks crisp on a Kindle Scribe, iPad, or reMarkable 2.

If you instead want to combine multiple PDFs into one document, use Merge PDF. To pull pages out, use Split PDF.

Compression Preset Quick Guide

Paper Size Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I convert a PDF to a PDF — isn't that the same file?

No. The output is a freshly generated PDF: cross-reference table rebuilt, image streams recompressed, fonts re-embedded, transparency optionally flattened, and page size and margins normalized. That fixes corruption, bloat, compatibility issues, and inconsistent paper sizes that the original file had.

Will it repair a "damaged or corrupt" PDF that Acrobat won't open?

Often yes. The re-save pass parses every recoverable object and writes a fresh, spec-compliant document. It works best for files with broken xref tables, truncated trailers, or malformed metadata. Files that are heavily truncated mid-stream (failed download, half-written backup) may lose some pages — that data is genuinely gone and no tool can recover it.

How much smaller will my PDF get?

Depends on what's inside. Text-only PDFs barely shrink (~5–10%). Scanned documents and image-heavy PDFs at the Screen preset typically drop to 10–25% of the original size. A 50 MB scanned 100-page report commonly compresses to 5–8 MB at Screen, or 10–15 MB at Ebook.

Will text stay searchable and selectable after re-saving?

Yes. The re-encoder preserves the text layer — selectable text remains selectable, and OCR text layers from scanners are kept. Only embedded raster images are recompressed.

Does it preserve form fields, hyperlinks, bookmarks, and annotations?

Form fields, internal hyperlinks, and bookmarks are preserved. Annotations (sticky notes, highlights, freeform drawings) are flattened into the page in most presets. If you need editable annotations after the round-trip, use the Default or Printer preset.

What happens to password-protected or encrypted PDFs?

You'll need to remove the password first. The re-save pipeline cannot read encrypted streams. Open the PDF with its password in your PDF viewer and save an unencrypted copy (when you know the password), then re-save that copy here.

Can I change the paper size of an existing PDF?

Yes — pick any of the 12 presets in the paper size dropdown (A4, A3, Letter, Legal, Tabloid, Ledger, Executive, ARCH A/B, ISO B4/B5, Screen Size, or Original). Page content gets re-centered with your chosen margin preset.

Is there a file size limit, and is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

files are processed on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours and not stored on our servers after the conversion completes. There's no fixed page-count limit, but very large PDFs (500+ MB) may run slower depending on upload size and connection speed.

What's the difference between Screen, Ebook, and Prepress?

Screen targets ~72 DPI for on-screen viewing — smallest file, lowest image quality. Ebook targets ~150 DPI for tablet reading — good balance. Prepress targets ~300 DPI with color profile preservation for commercial offset printing — biggest file, full quality.