How to Use the Compress PDF Tool

Last Updated: October 11, 2025

Navigate to the Nova Tools homepage and locate the "Compress PDF" tool card in the Tools section. Click the card, which displays a compress-alt icon and the description "Reduce the file size of your PDF document," to open the Compress PDF modal.

After clicking the tool card, a modal titled "Free PDF Compressor" will appear. This modal contains an upload area for selecting a PDF file and a field to specify a target size. You can close the modal by clicking the "×" button in the top-right corner or clicking outside the modal.

Click the "Choose File" link in the upload area or drag and drop a PDF file into it. The name of the selected file (e.g., "Selected: document.pdf") will appear below the upload area. Only one PDF file can be selected at a time, and only PDF format is supported.

Enter a desired file size in the "Target Size" field (e.g., "500 KB" or "1 MB"). The tool will attempt to compress the PDF to this size. If left blank, the tool will compress the PDF to a smaller size than the original, using default settings. The target size must be smaller than the original file size.

Click the "Compress File" button to start compressing the PDF. A progress bar will appear, showing the compression progress. The button will be disabled during processing. If no file is selected or the target size is invalid, an alert will prompt you to correct the issue.

After processing, the "Compress File" button is replaced by a "Download Compressed PDF" button with a download icon. Click this button to download the compressed PDF, named "compressed_document.pdf". If the target size wasn’t achieved exactly, an alert will show the closest size achieved. The modal remains open for further actions.