Three Methods to Make a PDF Smaller on Mac

If your PDF files are very large and take up a lot of disk space on your computer, you can try to make PDFs smaller on your Mac before you save them. And when you're trying to send them via email or upload them to the cloud, it's frustrating when they're too big. In this article, we'll show you how to make a PDF smaller on Mac.

Part 1. How Do I Make a PDF Smaller without Losing Quality on Mac?

UPDF for Mac as a one-stop PDF solution allows you to compress, edit, annotate, convert, flatten, protect, and organize PDF files effortlessly. If you need a fast, productive, and easy-to-use PDF tool to make a PDF smaller on Mac, UPDF is the right tool to help you achieve it.

Here is the step-by-step guide on making a PDF smaller on Mac with UPDF.

Step 1. Access Reduce File Size

Open your PDF files with UPDF and then tap on "Save as Other" on the right and select the "Reduce File Size..." option.

Step 2. How Do I Make a PDF Smaller on Mac

Now in the pop-up window, you have four options to make a PDF smaller, such as "Maximum", "High", "Medium", and "Low". Each option refers to different document quality. You can select any of them as you needed. Finally, tap on the "Save As" button.

Video Tutorial on How to Reduce PDF Size on Mac

Part 2. How Do I Make a PDF File Smaller on a Mac Preview?

Now let's see how you can make your PDF smaller in Mac Preview. Mac Preview is a simple and easy tool for viewing, annotating, and printing PDFs on your Mac. It's also an easy way to make a PDF smaller. If you've ever tried to open a large PDF in Preview, you know that it takes a long time to load and can take up a lot of space on your hard drive.

Step 1: Open the PDF File in Preview

First, you will need to open the PDF file that you want to work on. You can drag the PDF into the Preview interface, or you can right-click the PDF document, and then choose "Open with > Preview".

Step 2: Export the PDF

Once you open the PDF document in Preview, click on "File" from the top menu available. Proceed to click on "Export...".

Here you can enter a suitable file name in the dialogue box, or continue with the existing name placeholder. You can also add tags at this moment.

Step 3: Make PDF Smaller on Mac

Proceed to select a suitable location on your Mac where you want to save the file.

Next, you have to select the "Reduce File Size" option under the next arrow of "Quartz Filter".

The steps will make the PDF file smaller now. You only need to click on "Save" now.

Finally, the file will be exported to the location selected by you. At this point, you can also check the size difference between the original PDF file and the compressed version by right-clicking on the file and then clicking "Get Info "from the options and viewing the file size next to the PDF name.

When you open the compressed file, you may notice visual and textual details are not as clear as they were in the original version.

Part 3. How to Make PDF Smaller on Mac with Cisdem in 5 Minutes?

The Cisdem's PDF compressor is one of the easiest ways to make a PDF file smaller on your Mac.

First, download the Cistem software on your computer. Then, open a PDF file that you want to shrink using Cisdem software. Alternatively, you can drag the files on its interface.
It's time to customize the settings. You'll see a dropdown menu appear where you can choose from different compression settings. These are "Small, Medium, Large, and Custom".
To apply the same settings to all imported PDF documents, click the Apply to All checkbox before clicking "OK".
Once you've chosen your compression level, now click "Compress" on the main interface, and wait for the process to finish.
Your PDF should now be significantly smaller than when it started—and it will load more quickly when opened in UPDF or Preview on Mac OS X!

Part 4. The Best PDF Tool on Mac in 2023

There are many different PDF tools in the market, and it can be hard to choose which one will work best for your needs. However, don't worry, there is one tool that stands out from the rest: UPDF all-in-one PDF editor.

UPDF has many features that make it a great choice for anyone looking for a professional PDF tool.

View PDFs in multiple modes: UPDF provides multiple reading modes, and it also has a presentation mode that lets you display PDFs like a slideshow.
Edit PDFs smoothly: You can modify the text, images, and links on a PDF document smoothly.
Comment on PDF with various tools: UPDF offers various commenting tools, including sticky notes, highlights, stamps, stickers, signatures, etc.
Manage pages in PDF: It is easy for you to manage the pages in a PDF document. You can insert, rotate, extract, replace, delete, and reorder pages. You can also crop PDF page size with UPDF easily.
Convert PDFs fast: UPDF has the ability to convert documents into PDF files quickly and easily. Whether you want to convert an entire document or just part of one (like a single page), this feature will allow you to do just that in no time at all!
Protect PDF files: You can lock PDFs from editing, copying, and printing by adding an opening password and permission password.

The first thing you'll notice when using UPDF is how easy it is to use. Even if you've never used a tool like this before, you'll find that it's simple enough to figure out in no time.

Part 5. A Few Bonus Tips to Make PDF Smaller on Mac

Luckily, there are several ways to make PDFs smaller on Mac so they open faster and take up less disk space. Here are some quick tips:

Use a PDF compressor. This is a kind of app that you can download for free and it will allow you to optimize PDF files and make them smaller. The app works really well.
Make sure that the images in your PDF are as small as possible by choosing a high-quality setting when saving them or reducing their size when uploading them to our platform. You can do this by going into "File > Save As" and selecting "JPEG" as your file type instead of JPEG 2000 or PNG format.
You can convert the PDF into JPG or other formats to make it smaller. Other formats will be smaller than PDF format.

A Recap on How to Make a PDF Smaller on Mac Device

If you are looking to make your PDF smaller on your Mac, there are many options available. The good news is that there are a few different ways you can go about doing this without losing your patience.

If you're using Adobe Acrobat, one option is to simply use the Reduce File Size feature. This will compress the PDF file, which will make it smaller and easier to read. However, it will also make it harder for users who want to edit or modify the document later on. But that's not the only option available on today's date if you ask us.

The other option, which is also the best option, is to use a third-party app like the UPDF software we mentioned. It will compress your files without removing any of their functionality. It comes with a lot of features and 1M+ users are reaping the benefits of this tool globally. So try it today and see for yourself. And if you also want to annotate, edit, and convert PDF documents, UPDF is still the best choice for you.

How to Make a PDF Smaller on Mac Quickly (macOS 14 Included)