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Compress PDF for journalists
Updated July 2026
Arthize lets journalists and newsrooms compress a PDF in a private workspace — free, with no watermark. Compressing a PDF reduces file size — often 50–90% on image-heavy scans — by down-sampling images and stripping redundant data, while keeping text selectable.
Why journalists compress a PDF
A journalist OCRs a scanned document dump so it's searchable, extracts key tables into a spreadsheet, and redacts a source's identifying details plus metadata before publishing.
Built for FOIA releases. Whether it's FOIA releases, leaked documents, reports, Arthize's compress pdf keeps the work inside your private workspace. Source protection is paramount; documents must be handled privately and metadata stripped before publishing.
What matters when you compress a PDF
PDF file size almost always comes from embedded images, not text.
Down-sampling scans to a lower DPI usually gets an image-heavy file under 1MB.
Light compression is visually lossless for most documents.
How to compress a PDF
- 1
Open the compress tool
Sign in and open the Compress tool.
- 2
Add your PDF
Upload the oversized file; it is processed privately.
- 3
Pick a compression level
Higher compression down-samples images more; light compression keeps them crisp.
- 4
Download the smaller file
Most image-heavy PDFs drop well under 1MB with no visible quality loss.
Common questions
- How do journalists compress a PDF for free?
- Compressing a PDF reduces file size — often 50–90% on image-heavy scans — by down-sampling images and stripping redundant data, while keeping text selectable. On Arthize it's free with no watermark, and the file is deleted after the job — which is why journalists and newsrooms can use it for FOIA releases without a confidentiality risk.
- Is it private to compress a PDF sensitive FOIA releases?
- Yes. Source protection is paramount; documents must be handled privately and metadata stripped before publishing. Files are processed inside your private Arthize workspace and deleted after the job.
- How do I compress a PDF to under 1MB?
- Compressing a PDF reduces file size — often 50–90% on image-heavy scans — by down-sampling images and stripping redundant data, while keeping text selectable. On Arthize it's free with no watermark and processed privately.
- Will compressing a PDF lose quality?
- Compressing a PDF reduces file size — often 50–90% on image-heavy scans — by down-sampling images and stripping redundant data, while keeping text selectable. On Arthize it's free with no watermark and processed privately.
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