PDF compression and selectable text

The short answer

Start with standard PDF compression when you need selectable text and existing document features. Strong compression renders pages as images and can remove selectable text, forms and other interactive content. Always compare the output with the original.

Steps to follow

1. Keep the original PDF and open Compress PDF.
2. Try standard compression first.
3. If needed, try strong compression only when a page-image copy is acceptable.
4. Check size, text readability, page count and important document features.

Start with the smallest change

A PDF can already be optimized. Rewriting its structure may make little difference or produce a larger file. The browser compression workflow keeps the original when compression produces a larger result. Test the downloaded PDF in the application where it will be used.

Understand strong compression

Strong compression rasterizes pages. This can help image-heavy files but changes the document: text is no longer selectable and form fields are not preserved as interactive controls. Small print and diagrams can become less clear. Use this mode only when a visual copy is suitable.

Respect file and page limits

The browser PDF workflow accepts files up to 50 MB each and 100 MB per batch. Raster exports and strong compression support up to 50 pages. Inputs must be unlocked. OCR is a separate local-companion workflow for scanned documents; it is not a promise that compression restores editable text.