Compress PDF, Reduce Document File Size, API Tool

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Request

POST

Headers

Api-Key

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Response-Type

Poll for the status of a request by ID. Request IDs can be found in the JSON response of POST requests sent to any pdfRest endpoint.

Required Parameters

file

File to be uploaded and processed

Alphanumeric ID (UUID) of existing file on server to be processed

compression_level

Degree of compression with a tradeoff between preserving fidelity (low) and maximizing file size reduction (high)

Optional Parameters

output

Name of the generated output file, without extension

Code

curl -X POST "https://api.pdfrest.com/compressed-pdf" \ 
  -H "Accept: application/json" \ 
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -H "Api-Key: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" \

Response

The response for your API Call will display here.

Once you've sent your POST request and received a valid response, you can download your output file using the output URL.

Build Your Solution

You have document processing problems, we have Solutions. Explore the many ways pdfRest can align your documents with your business objectives.

Browse all solutions

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Why is pdfRest the best API to compress PDF file size?

pdfRest offers the best solution for compressing PDF documents, because it supports unmatched file size reduction, a simple interface, and gold-standard technology.

Unmatched File Size Reduction

pdfRest’s compression technology results in PDF documents with the smallest file sizes and highest fidelity of preserved content compared to other leading PDF technology offerings.

pdfRest reduces file size by an average of 53% with the low compression setting through 68% with high compression and can reach up to 98% file size reduction for image-heavy PDFs.

Simple Interface, Complex Algorithm

Your choice is simple - select from high, medium, or low compression for a tradeoff between more size reduction or higher fidelity of preserved content. A quick comparison of results will help you determine just the right fit for your application.

Under the hood, pdfRest applies a complex series of operations to remove all unused, unneeded, and redundant information from the file. No need to dive into these weeds -put our PDF exports to work, so you can fast-track results.

Proprietary Technology from PDF Experts

pdfRest builds upon gold-standard Adobe® optimization technology to achieve industry-leading results. Our team of PDF experts has spent over a decade improving compression technology to handle just about every edge case and combination of PDF conditions out there.

If you have specific requirements, Compress PDF offers a customized option for adjusting all of the granular settings to meet your needs, and our PDF experts are happy to help!

Check out other videos

Start from Code Examples

See more code examples in our GitHub repository

Need more help?

Start with a Tutorial for step-by-step guidance

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6 items

Customize Your Solution

Learn about the parameters for this tool to create your custom solution.

File

The file parameter allows you to select a local file to be uploaded to pdfRest’s processing server.

See Documentation

The id parameter allows you to submit a resource ID generated by one of our API Tools. Each of our API Tools assigns a unique resource ID to your output file(s), allowing you to chain requests together without having to download intermediate files between requests.

For example, you can submit the output ID you receive from our Merge PDFs tool to reduce the file size of your new PDF before you download it.

See Documentation

Output

The output parameter lets you set a filename (without extension) for your compressed PDF.

See Documentation

Compression Level

The compression_level parameter lets you adjust the amount of compression so you can achieve the right balance between visual fidelity and file size savings. Choose from our presets of “high”, “medium”, and “low” compression levels, or select “custom” compression to fine-tune your PDF compression with a custom profile. (See profile for more information about custom profiles.)

See Documentation

Profile

The profile parameter lets you upload a custom JSON profile when you set compression_level to “custom”. Custom compression allows you to specify how our compression tool should handle various objects in your PDF such as fonts, images, and user data. See our documentation for details on how to format your profile.

See Documentation