Minimal PDF Compress 1.2

Minimal PDF Compress is a user-friendly, graphical desktop application designed to simplify PDF compression and conversion tasks using Ghostscript on Windows. It allows users to compress PDF files or convert them to PDF/A format with customizable options, all through an intuitive GUI (Graphical User Interface). Built with Python and Tkinter, this tool eliminates the need for command-line interactions, making PDF processing accessible to everyone.

For many users, the command prompt can be intimidating due to its text-based nature, complex syntax, and lack of immediate feedback. Ghostscript, while powerful, typically requires command-line expertise to perform tasks like PDF compression or conversion to PDF/A.

Note: Ghostscript's pdfwrite device doesn't technically "compress" PDFs in the traditional sense. Instead, it recreates a new PDF that may be smaller due to optimizations like removing unnecessary metadata, simplifying fonts, or recompressing images.

Minimal PDF Compress 1.1.0 changelog:

• The main "Operation" dropdown now includes quality presets (Screen, Ebook, Printer, Prepress) for easy control over the size vs. quality trade-off.
• The application interface no longer locks up during processing, by introducing background threading.
• The 60-second timeout has been removed, allowing for the processing of very large files and extensive batch jobs without interruption.
• Fixed a bug where the gswin64c.exe process could remain open after the application was closed.
• The app now prioritizes a local, portable Ghostscript installation (in bin and lib folders) before searching for a system-wide installation.
• An animated progress bar provides clear visual feedback that a task is running.

Minimal PDF Compress 1.2 changelog:

This version now combines two different methods for maximum file size reduction.

• The initial stage cleans and optimizes the PDF by downsampling images and subsetting fonts, just like before.
• A new, optional second stage has been added (option added to use traditional compression). It rebuilds the PDF structure using modern techniques like object streams to reduce file size even further.

Updates

• New theme: https://github.com/deminimis/tkinter_minimal_styles

Bug fixes

• High-DPI display support has been added.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when starting a process due to an incorrect parameter being passed to the Ghostscript command builder.

Installation

1. Download the prebuilt Minimal PDF Compress.exe using the link below.
2. Double-click the file to open the app — no setup required.
3. If Ghostscript isn’t installed yet, the app will prompt you to get it.

What You’ll Need

• Ghostscript is required for the app to work. If you don’t have it, just download and install it from the official Ghostscript website.

Download: Minimal PDF Compress 1.2 | 34.1 MB (Open Source)
View: Minimal PDF Compress Home Page | Screenshot

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