Compress PDF vs Image to PDF on FileShrinkr
Clear comparison of FileShrinkr’s Compress PDF (browser) and Image to PDF (server) tools—when to use each, privacy differences, and quality trade-offs.
Published August 26, 2026 · Updated August 26, 2026
Two buttons, two jobs
On the FileShrinkr homepage you will see both Compress PDF and Image to PDF. They solve different problems. Choosing the wrong one wastes time—or produces a file that is larger than before.
| Compress PDF | Image to PDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Start with | A .pdf file | JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, etc. |
| Goal | Make that PDF smaller | Build a PDF from photos/scans |
| Runs in | Your browser (private) | Server (temporary processing) |
| Text stays selectable? | No (pages become images) | Only if you embed lossless images as images—not OCR |
| Deep link | /?intent=compress-pdf | /?intent=pdf |
| Short URL | /compress-pdf | /images-to-pdf |
Use Compress PDF when…
- Someone emailed you a PDF that exceeds an upload limit
- Your scanner app already produced a multi-page PDF
- You care about privacy and do not want the file uploaded
- You are okay with pages becoming raster images
Follow the full walkthrough in How to compress a PDF online. If the tool says the file is already efficient, read Reduce PDF file size.
Use Image to PDF when…
- You have loose photos, HEIC iPhone shots, or PNG screenshots
- You need to merge many images into one PDF in order
- You want lossless embedding (no JPEG re-encode) for archival scans
- You need server features such as HEIC conversion in the same flow
See How to merge images into one PDF for merge order, compressed vs lossless export, and troubleshooting.
Privacy comparison
Compress PDF never sends the document to FileShrinkr’s API for that intent—everything stays on your device. That is the same privacy posture as Browser mode for ordinary image compression.
Image to PDF uses the server engine (Sharp / img2pdf path). Uploads are for temporary processing and download, not a permanent archive—prefer Browser mode for rasters when you do not need PDF merge or HEIC.
Quality expectations
Compress PDF quality is controlled by JPEG settings, render zoom, and max page width under Advanced Tuning. Higher quality and width look sharper but fight file-size goals.
Image to PDF quality depends on whether you compress images in the PDF or embed losslessly. Compressed pages behave like a photo export; lossless keeps original image bytes inside the PDF container.
Neither tool is an OCR engine. If you need searchable text after compressing a scan, use a dedicated OCR product after (or instead of) raster compression.
Quick decision guide
- Have a PDF? → Compress PDF
- Have images? → Image to PDF
- Have both and need the smallest email attachment? → Compress the images first, then Image to PDF—or Compress PDF if only the PDF remains
- Need selectable text preserved? → Do not use browser Compress PDF; keep the original or use a text-preserving desktop compressor