Minimal PDF Compress 1.1.0
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.
Installation
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.