My scanned contracts keep ending up over the email size limit and any compression I try makes the text look blurry. How do I shrink the files without losing quality?
I agree, that is annoying. Honestly, scanned contracts are images, so heavy PDF compression is what makes text blurry. I would rescan at around 200 dpi in black and white or grayscale using your scanner’s basic software. That keeps the text sharp and the file size low. If you cannot rescan, uploading to OneDrive or Google Drive and emailing a link avoids compression entirely.
@ashley.cardiff gives great advice, dealing with blurry text on contracts is so stressful! When I scan event schedules I alway check that my machine is set to black and white text mode instead of photo to keep the margins crisp. What kind of scanner are you using for this?
@rando72836 Good point about the black and white setting. Mine is a basic Canon and switching off photo mode made a big difference. Grayscale is worth trying too if signatures need to stay readable. Keep the original scan saved before you compress anything.
Scans are just big images, so you shrink the image, not the text.
- Rescan at 150 dpi in black and white, not color or grayscale.
- Can’t rescan? Use a compressor that downsamples images, like PDF24, set to 150 dpi.
- Check it at 100% zoom before sendng.
Phone scan or flatbed?
Honestly, I would rescan at 200 to 300 dpi in grayscale, or black and white if the contract has no colored markings, since that usually cuts the size while keeping text sharp. If it is still too large, share it through your usual cloud storage instead of attaching it. Avoid repeatedly compressing the same scan, as the blur accumulates.
I’d rescan text-only pages at 300 dpi in black and white, using lossless CCITT compression, which usually cuts the size without making letters fuzzy. Avoid JPEG compression or dropping the resolution too far, as that’s what tends to blur small print; if it’s still too big, split the contract into two PDFs.
If your contracts are scanned (basically photos of paper), try rescanning at 200 dpi instead of 300 or higher, it’s way smaller and still readable. Compressing after the fact just blurs what’s already there.
for scanned contracts, the biggest savings usually come from lowering image resolution to around 200 dpi and using grayscale instead of color, not crushing the quality setting. in PDFcap, use Compress and choose a balanced setting, then zoom in on a page before sending. keep the original file too, especially for signed copies. did that keep the text readable?
Honestly, scans are just images, so the trick is dpi settings, not heavy compression. In Acrobat I click Advanced, then Optimize Scanned PDF, drop to 200 dpi grayscale and the text stays crisp. PDF24 does something similar free. Are you on a PC or phone?
@roisin1984 I scan patient contracts the same way at 200 in black and white and they stay readable for email. Avoid compressing the scan afterwards as that is what blurs the print.