Can it shorten a PDF?

Yes. Columns, tables, headers and footers are read in the right order, and the result comes back as text you can edit.

Does it keep headings and lists?

Yes. Headings, list items and paragraphs keep their place.

How is it different from a summarizer?

A summarizer picks the main points. The text shortener keeps every specific and cuts only how things are said, so nothing you need goes missing.

Text shortener

Paste anything long. Keep what matters.

Paste text, enter a web address or upload a PDF. The text shortener brings it to the length you set, from 20% to 90%, passage by passage, and checks every number, date and decision against the original.

Shorten it

6 free pages a month. No card.

A long document is condensed into a shorter note.

Made for

Long reports and proposals before a meeting
Web pages you want shorter, without gaps
PDFs with a page or word limit

Before and after

Example: 63 → 23 words · every fact kept

Original

The team discussed the budget at length and, after considering a number of different options, eventually agreed that the marketing budget for 2025 would be set at €80,000. It was also agreed that Priya would be responsible for presenting the final plan to the board. The presentation to the board will take place at the next board meeting, which is on 14 January.

Result

The team set the 2025 marketing budget at €80,000.

Priya will present the final plan at the next board meeting, on 14 January.

Kept: 2025
Kept: €80,000
Kept: Priya
Kept: 14 January

How Shorten works

Step 01
Empty sentences go first
Sentences that repeat what the passage already says are cut without a rewrite.
Step 02
Each passage gets a target
Your length applies to every passage, so nothing is squeezed to make room for another.
Step 03
The rest is tightened
Repetition, padding and wordy phrasing go; sentences that share a subject merge.
Step 04
Facts are checked
If the target and the facts conflict, the facts win and the passage comes as close as they allow.

Options

Target length: Keep 20% to 90% of the original. Default 50%.
Write in: Keep the language, or translate while shortening.

From code, terminal or agent

# REST API
curl https://readable.md/api/v1/transform \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $READABLE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "tool": "shorten", "text": "…", "length": 0.4 }'

# Command line
readable shorten report.md --length 0.4 --out short.md

# MCP tool: shorten

API, MCP and CLI docs

Questions

Can it shorten a PDF?: Yes. Columns, tables, headers and footers are read in the right order, and the result comes back as text you can edit.
Does it keep headings and lists?: Yes. Headings, list items and paragraphs keep their place.
How is it different from a summarizer?: A summarizer picks the main points. The text shortener keeps every specific and cuts only how things are said, so nothing you need goes missing.