Batch compress PDF files

To batch compress PDF files, you can use various tools depending on your platform and preference (online tools, desktop apps, or command-line utilities). Below are the best methods for each:

1. Desktop Tools

Adobe Acrobat Pro (Windows/Mac)

• Open Adobe Acrobat Pro.

• Go to File > Open and select multiple PDFs.

• Use File > Save As Other > Optimized PDF.

• Choose compression settings.

• Save each compressed PDF.

Preview (Mac only)

• Open a PDF in Preview.

• Go to File > Export, select Quartz Filter > Reduce File Size.

• To automate: Use Automator to create a batch process.

2. Free Software

PDFsam (Windows/Mac/Linux)

• Download: https://pdfsam.org

• Has batch processing features for optimizing PDF files.

Free PDF Compressor (Windows)

• Drag and drop multiple files.

• Choose compression level.

• Save the output.

3. Command Line (Advanced Users)

Using Ghostscript

Install Ghostscript:

• macOS: brew install ghostscript

• Linux: sudo apt install ghostscript

• Windows: Download from https://ghostscript.com

Batch compression command:

bash
CopyEdit
for file in *.pdf; do
  gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/screen 
  -dNOPAUSE -dQUIET -dBATCH -sOutputFile="compressed_$file" "$file"
done

PDFtk or qpdf

Useful for merging/splitting and compressing with custom flags.

4. Online Tools (Quick and Easy)

• ILovePDF

• SmallPDF

• PDFCompressor

Most of these tools allow batch uploading and downloading compressed PDFs in a ZIP archive.

Best Practices

• Always back up originals before batch processing.

• Use /ebook or /printer settings in Ghostscript for better balance between size and quality.

• Compress images inside PDFs beforehand for more reduction.

Let me know if you want a script or automation setup for your OS.