Filozy

Two-step upload workflow

Shrink a PDF under a portal's upload limit

Make form answers and comments part of the page, then repack the file. Compressing last means the size you check against the portal is the size you upload.

By the Filozy team, with AI assistance Reviewed How we write and review

One file · 2 connected steps

Start the workflow here

Choose the PDF once. Each completed step passes it directly to the next tool on this device.

The whole job, visible up front

What will happen

  1. 01

    Flatten

    Bake forms and comments into the pages.

    Open Flatten by itself
  2. 02

    Compress

    Repack the PDF. Enter the portal's limit as the target size, and choose Reduce under Pictures if the file is mostly photos or scans.

    Open Compress by itself

Common questions

Why flatten first and compress last?
Compress is the step that checks the file against a target size, so it has to be the last thing that writes the file: flattening saves a new file, and doing it after compressing would change the size you had just checked. Flattening first also makes filled answers and comments part of the page, so the portal's viewer shows what you saw rather than an empty form.
The PDF is still over the limit. What can I do?
Look at what the file is made of. If it is mostly photos or scans, choose Reduce under Pictures, or Smallest, which saves more with visible loss. Keep quality, the default, never re-encodes a picture, and Compress does not lower quality on its own to reach a target; it reports whether the target was met. If the portal accepts more than one file, Split by size or bookmark can cut the PDF into parts around a size you choose.
Does the portal mean the same thing by MB?
Not always. The target box counts 1 MB as 1,000,000 bytes. Some systems count 1 MB as 1,048,576 bytes, which allows slightly more, so a file that meets the target in Filozy also fits a limit counted that way.
Does flattening lose anything?
Comment marks stay on the page. The words in their pop-up notes, and the commenter's name, stop showing anywhere, but they stay inside the saved file, and Compress keeps them too; the result says how many comments had pop-up text. If the portal must not receive them, delete the comments in your PDF reader and save a new copy with Save As, not Save, because a quick save can keep deleted comments inside the file. Form answers can no longer be edited by anyone, including you, so keep the original. Flattening is not redaction: answers and comments can still be read and copied. Links stay clickable unless you untick Keep working links.
What if the PDF is digitally signed?
Then skip this workflow. Flatten saves a new file, and a rewritten file no longer matches its digital signature; Compress returns signed PDFs unchanged for that reason. If a signed document is over the limit, ask whoever issued it for a smaller copy, or ask the portal whether it accepts a larger one.