PDF Squeezer Mac App 2022 REVIEW

PDF Squeezer saves precious space by compressing big PDF files.

I have a boat-load of PDF documents that I have collected over the years – a few gigs worth in fact. I believe If I took the time to go through them all I could delete quite a few non-essential files, but I just don’t have the spare time to do so.

Earlier this year, I started embarking on an arduous journey of cleaning up old files and optimizing them as I move them to my new NAS device. Part of that file optimization process involves programs like PDF Squeezer, a PDF compression tool for Mac.

This impressive program has given me the ability to quickly compress all of the PDFs I’ve collected over the years so that I can avoid sorting through them individually. Don’t get me wrong; at some point, I will delete the old, unnecessary files but until I have the time, compressing them with PDF Squeezer is my best option.

About PDF Squeezer

PDF Squeezer is a PDF compression utility designed for macOS. It allows users to quickly and easily compress selected files using drag-and-drop functionality. PDF Squeezer eliminates unnecessary aspects of PDF files so that what is left is only the most important information.

The app allows for batch file compression as well as single file compression. Users can define their compression preferences inside the app and export/share their profiles with friends and colleagues if they wish. PDF Squeezer will output a compressed file that is compatible with all common PDF software tools.

PDF Squeezer’s history began in 2012 when developer, Daniel Witt, was studying computer science. He was struggling to send a large PDF via email, which led him to create a tool that would help him compress images within the PDF. At that time, it was a small utility that Witt grew into a full-fledged Mac app written in Objective-C. The Mac App Store was new at that time and Witt decided to submit his app there where he found there was a demand for a PDF-compression tool.

Today, the app is currently on version 4.3.2 and is being written in Swift with the compression engine written in C++. PDF Squeezer started as a hobby for Witt but has since become a full-time job for him. He continues to develop apps for Mac including Network Radar and Rocket Typist.

Main Features

• Specifically designed and engineered to work optimally with macOS
• Drag and drop your file into the application window or on the app icon
• Batch compress multiple files
• Sophisticated compression process that uses numerous methods to reduce the file size
• Includes Shortcuts and Automator actions and a command-line interface
• Select from predefined compression profiles OR create your own!
• Select a folder and compress all its files including subfolders
• Support for password-protected PDFs
• View information like title, author, keywords or the number of images, and the average resolution
• Use more tools like exporting all images of a PDF
  Side by side Comparisons: Compare files and different compression settings easily
• Export and share your compression profiles with others
• The app window supports a full-screen mode which is especially useful when comparing compressions
• Conforms to all common PDF versions from 1.0 to 1.7 and 2.0
• See how much disc space you’ve saved since you started using PDF Squeezer

Privacy Policy

According to the App Store, data collected by the app might include diagnostics, which could potentially be linked to the user and their identity. The full privacy policy from the developer, Daniel Witt, can be found here.

Witt states that he has no interest in selling any user data and doesn’t use analysis tools to check how his apps are being used to avoid unnecessary data collection. Witt attempts to keep all app activity centralized to the device it is running on so there is no need to upload data to remote servers.

Pricing and Availability

PDF Squeezer is available through the developer’s web store, the Mac App Store, and Setapp. When a user purchases the app through the App Store or Web Store, they will pay a one-time fee of $9.99. Setapp is a subscription-based service that charges $9.99 per month for unlimited access to the apps in its library.

USER EXPERIENCE

The version of PDF Squeezer I have is from the Mac App Store. So the installation process was very easy. The app is only 20.4MB in size so it’s a lightweight app and it doesn’t use many resources on your system. The first thing you will want to do is to set up your compression profiles.

There are three included by default. They are labeled Strong, Medium, and Light. You have the option to rename them and change any of the compression settings for each profile. You can even add additional profiles on top of the default options.

Once you have the profiles set up, you can start using the app. One of my favorite features is the side-by-side comparison tool. As I was setting up my profiles, I was trying to determine what I wanted the settings to be. This comparison option gave me the ability to see exactly how much I was losing with the different levels of compression.

On some PDFs, it’s perfectly fine for the images to lose their fidelity because they are just for reference. But some PDFs I want to be print-ready without the unnecessary bulk. The comparison tool guided me so that I had good options for different project types.

As I mentioned above, I’m working on archiving all my older files and backing them up onto a NAS. As it turns out, this ended up being a great use case for PDF Squeezer. Not long ago I received the Synology DS1821+ to review. My goal with it was to transfer all the files I had stored on my dying Drobo to the new Synology NAS. These files make up several TB of data.

One entire folder on the Drobo was filled with PDF documents I have collected over the years. I developed a workflow for backing up these files so that they would take up the least amount of file space possible. Here are the steps I took.

1. I used PDF Squeezer’s batch compression tool to shrink the file size of the individual PDFs.
2. I used Keka‘s 7Zip compression option to zip the PDFs together.

By following this 2-step process, I was able to decrease file sizes up to 90% of their original file size. The table below shows an example of the file sizes step-by-step using this process.

CONCLUSION

I love great software and PDF Squeezer has been a great utility app. It’s been around for a long time and it’s developed extremely well. Everyone at some point has used or uses PDFs so getting PDF Squeezer is a no-brainer. Just do it. You will be happy you did.

For more details, visit PDF Squeezer and Twitter.