PDF Simple Compression

A simple utility program for Windows that will help reduce the size of most PDFs.

There are numerous PDF compression utilities out there. Most seem to either cost a bit, but only work ok, or are free and do not work well. Online versions work great, but really only handle 1 file at a time. We are offering one that works well and is free, and can handle multiple source folders at one time. We are also offering the source for it for those interested in seeing how it works.

This utility uses the Ghostscript APIs, which is a vast library of free software that can manipulate PDFs and PostScript files. For more on ghostscript, visit http://ghostscript.com/

Downloads

Current version: 1.2

For Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10
Windows Installer msi file installer. This will create an icon on your desktop for the utility Download
Installer Exe Setup.exe file. If you have problems running the msi above, download this file. Most people should not need it. Download
Zip file Core files zipped up. You determine where to unzip the files. Download
Source files Complete source code for version 1.0 with all functionality except ghostscript DLLs. Read the included Readme.txt in the zip for more on running the compiled version. Download

Not sure which one you need? Start with the 'Windows Installer'. If it does not work, try downloading the 'Installer Exe' to the same folder and running it. The zip file is more for people who want to put the files in a specific location.

Still having problems? Please let us know

General Help

The utility can be looked at in various sections as labeled above

Section 1 - File list

This section contains the list of files that will be compressed or have been compressed. If the files have not yet been compressed, then some of the columns will be empty.

Source file
The name of the source PDF file.
Source folder
The full path and name of the source file location.
Size
The file size in kilobytes. 1,000 kilbytes is approximately 1 megabyte. So a 4,000KB file will be about 4 MB.
Converted
Indicates if the file was successfully converted. This field reads 'Complete' on success and 'Fail' if the file could not be converted.
New size
The new compressed file size.
Ratio
The amount of compression that occured. For example, if a 4MB file has a new size of 1MB, it was compressed by 75%.

Section 2 - List manipulation

These buttons allow you to manipulate the list of files that are to be compressed.

Add file
Allows you to add one or more files to the list to be compressed.
Add folder
Add all PDF files from the selected folder to the list to be compressed.
Remove selected
Removes the current selected file form the list.
Clear list
Removes all files from the list of files to be compressed.

Section 3 - Destination folder

This section tells you where the compresed files will be stored and allows you to change that folder.

Destination folder
Shows the current path to which compressed files will be saved.
Open
Opens the indicated location in Windows File Explorer.
Change
Allows you to select a different folder location for the compressed files. This will the the location of all files compressed when the 'Compress files' button is clicked.

Section 4 - Messages area

This area displays messages and statuses as you operate the utility.


Section 5 - Compress Files

Pressing this button will cause the utility to attempt to compress all files in the file list. If a file cannot be compressed, it will get a 'Failed' message. If a file cannot be compressed any smaller than it is, it will be highlighted in red, and will have a Ratio of 0%.

Donate

Do you really like this utility and want to see more? Consider donating, even if it's just a dollar. Please visit our Donate page.