Work with PDFs
PDF Tools has two tabs: Images → PDF builds a PDF from pictures, and Compress & Merge shrinks or joins existing PDFs.
Turn images into a PDF
This works on every platform and needs no extra tools.
On the home screen, select PDF Tools. The Images → PDF tab is open.
Click Add images — one page per image, or drag images onto it.
The images are listed with numbers. The PDF uses this order. Use the cross on a row to remove an image.
Select Create PDF. The button shows the page count, for example Create PDF (4 pages).
Each image becomes one page, sized to the image. The images are stored in the PDF as JPG at the Default quality from Settings. A message shows the result, such as PDF created: 3.1 MB → 1.2 MB. The PDF is named after the first image, for example scan1.pdf.
Compress PDFs
Compression needs Ghostscript on Linux or Windows; without it the Compress button stays greyed out. If neither Ghostscript nor qpdf is installed, the tab also shows a red box with the install command (sudo apt install ghostscript qpdf). Compression is not available on Android.
Open the Compress & Merge tab.
Select Add PDFs and choose one or more files.
Choose a Compression level:
Level Result Low (best quality) Least shrinking, best for printing Medium Good print quality High (default) Good for reading on screen Maximum (smallest) Smallest file, lower image quality Select Compress.
Each PDF is saved with _compressed added to its name. A message shows the sizes and the percentage saved. If one file fails, CompressX stops and shows Ghostscript's error.
PDFs that are mostly text often shrink only a little. Scanned documents and PDFs full of photos shrink the most.
Merge PDFs
Merging uses qpdf when it is installed, and Ghostscript otherwise. It is not available on Android.
Open the Compress & Merge tab.
Select Add PDFs and add at least two files, in the order you want them.
To change the order, remove a file with its cross and add it again; it goes to the end.
Select Merge.
The merged file is named after the first PDF with _merged added, for example report_merged.pdf.