I have to merge lecture slides and compress huge textbook readings every week on a tight budget. Between PDFgear, Smallpdf, and iLovePDF, which one actually offers the best free tools for students without annoying daily limits?
I agree that weekly merging and compressing can be annoying on a student budget. Honestly, I am not sure which of the three is best, and I avoid suggesting dedicated PDF sites because limits change often. If your slides are still in PowerPoint or Google Slides, I would combine them there and export one PDF. For bulky readings, I would ask the library for a smaller copy.
Honestly, I would not choose based only on today’s free quota, because limits change and large textbook files usually hit them first. My tip is to test each with 1 typical week’s batch, including the largest reading. Avoid repeated compression, since slide text and diagrams can become blurry very quickly.
For weekly merging and compressing, PDFgear wins. It’s a desktop app, so no daily task caps, no account, no upload size games. Smallpdf and iLovePDF both throttle free users to a couple tasks per day, which gets old fast with textbook files. I use PDFgear for my show notes PDFs and it’s been solid.
I’d try PDFgear first for this, especially on a laptop, as its basic merge and compression tools are generally less restrictive than Smallpdf or iLovePDF. Tip: keep the original readings backed up, and avoid uploading anything with personal student details to an online converter.
@guitar_mouse You are so right about blurry diagrams, that always happens to my venue maps when I over-compress them for vendors! Testing a weekly batch is a great idea to see how the layout and margins hold up before commiting. Are you using a Mac or a PC for your files?
@rando72836 Windows laptop here, and PDFgear has been fine on it for merging handouts. Worth keeping a backup copy of the originals before you compress anything though, as it can strip things out.
Honestly I use iLovePDF for merging since it’s quick and doesn’t make me sign up, but for compressing huge files I just use PDFgear’s desktop app so I’m not stuck with daily limits online.
for weekly slides and big readings, i’d use PDFcap since it handles merge and compression without the usual free-tier juggling. make a copy of the original textbook PDF first, because strong compression can make diagrams and small print fuzzy. are you doing this on a phone or laptop?
@guitar_mouse Testing a full week of files first is smart. My tip is to combine the slides in PowerPoint then save as PDF. Avoid compressing the same file 2 times because diagrams turn fuzzy fast.