How to reduce PDF size (Mac)

I recently tried to send an email containing 2 PDFs and the size of the email was 50mb!

There is a relatively quick way to reduce the size of a PDF so that it is easier to email. The quality will be reduced, so this may not be suitable for all situations. If you need a smaller sized and higher quality option, so long as the file doesn’t have to be a PDF, you can save it as a JPEG. I’ve included instructions to export your PDF as an JPEG (image) below.

Using the Export option will allow you to keep the original document untouched and create a reduced size and quality copy. In my test the size reduced from 22.4mb to 56k!

Export As PDF

Open the PDF document in Preview
Click on File – Export…

Give your file a name, under Export As
Choose the location for the new file to be stored using the list on the left (if different from the original)
Click on the word None, for Quartz Filter

Select Reduce File Size from the list
Press Save

PDF Quality Comparison (Right Original, Left Reduced Quality)

Export As JPEG

If the document doesn’t have to be in PDF format, another option for reducing file size is to save as a JPEG image. The quality is considerably better and the file size is still greatly reduced.

Open the PDF document in Preview
Click on File – Export…
Give your file a name, under Export As
Choose the location for the new file to be stored using the list on the left (if different from the original)
Under Format click on PDF
Change to JPEG