Why Emails Reject Large PDFs
Most email providers set a limit on attachment size — Gmail caps it at 25 MB, Outlook at 20 MB, and many corporate email systems are even stricter. When your PDF exceeds that limit, your email simply will not send. You are stuck either uploading the file to a cloud service and sharing a link, or finding a way to make the PDF smaller.
The good news is that many PDFs are much larger than they need to be. Scanned documents, image-heavy reports, and files exported from design tools often contain uncompressed images or redundant data that can be reduced significantly without any visible quality loss.
Understanding Compression Levels
PDFTaco offers three compression levels so you can balance file size against quality:
- Low compression — Minimal quality reduction. Best for documents where image clarity is critical, like photography portfolios or detailed diagrams. Typical reduction: 10-30%.
- Medium compression — A good balance for most use cases. Text stays crisp, and images look great at normal viewing sizes. Typical reduction: 30-60%.
- High compression — Maximum file size reduction. Perfect for text-heavy documents, forms, and files where image quality is less important than getting under an email limit. Typical reduction: 50-80%.
The actual reduction depends on the content of your PDF. Files with lots of high-resolution images see the biggest savings. Text-only PDFs are already quite compact and may not shrink much further.
How to Compress a PDF with PDFTaco
- Open the Compress tool — Visit pdftaco.com/tools/compress.
- Upload your PDF — Drag and drop your file or click to browse. You will see the original file size displayed.
- Choose a compression level — Select low, medium, or high based on your needs.
- Click Compress — PDFTaco processes the file right in your browser.
- Download the result — You will see the new file size and the percentage reduction. Download the compressed file and attach it to your email.
Everything happens locally on your device. Your PDF is never sent to a server, so there is no privacy concern — even with sensitive financial or legal documents.
Tips for Maximum Compression
- Start with medium. It handles most situations well. Only bump up to high if you still need a smaller file.
- Check the output. Open the compressed PDF and scroll through it to make sure the quality is acceptable for your needs.
- Remove unnecessary pages first. If your PDF includes pages the recipient does not need (like appendices or cover sheets), use the Delete Pages tool to remove them before compressing. Fewer pages means a smaller file.
- Consider the content. A 50-page text document compresses differently than a 5-page photo album. Adjust your expectations based on what is in the file.
PDFTaco's compression tool is free, runs entirely in your browser, and never adds watermarks. The next time an email bounces back because of a large attachment, you know where to go.