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Free · Private · Offline · Open Source

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💻 Desktop CLI

Binary (no Python required)

Download the prebuilt binary for your platform from Releases:

Platform	File
macOS	pdf-kompakt-macos
Linux	pdf-kompakt-linux
Windows	pdf-kompakt-windows.exe

# macOS / Linux
chmod +x pdf-kompakt-macos
./pdf-kompakt-macos

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew tap xronocode/tools
brew install pdf-kompakt

Python (any platform)

Requires Python 3.8+.

git clone https://github.com/xronocode/kompakt.git
cd kompakt
pip install pypdf          # optional but recommended
python pdf_compress.py

For best compression, also install Ghostscript:

# macOS
brew install ghostscript

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install ghostscript

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ghostscript

Usage

pdf-kompakt                              interactive: pick file + quality
pdf-kompakt input.pdf                    pick quality interactively
pdf-kompakt input.pdf -q medium          skip all menus
pdf-kompakt input.pdf -q low -o out.pdf  fully non-interactive
pdf-kompakt --methods                    check dependency status
pdf-kompakt --help

Quality levels

Flag	DPI	Compression	Best for
low	72	maximum	email, messaging, web
medium ★	150	balanced	most use cases
high	300	minimal	print, archiving

How it works

Running pdf-kompakt opens a 3-step interactive wizard:

1. Pick a file — fuzzy search across all PDFs in the current directory, sort by name / date / size
2. Choose quality — low / medium / high with live hints
3. Confirm output name — sensible default, editable

  Step 2 of 3 — Choose compression level     (2/3)
  ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
▶  Maximum compression  [low]
   Balance  [medium]  ★ recommended
   High quality  [high]
  ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ℹ  72 dpi · heavy lossy · email, messengers, web
  ↑↓ navigate   Enter confirm   q quit

  ✓ Done  (Ghostscript)
  ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Before : 11.2 MB
  After  : 1.4 MB
  Saved  : 87.5%  (9.8 MB freed)

Dependencies

Tool	Role	Install
Ghostscript	Primary engine · 50–90% savings	brew install ghostscript
pypdf	Fallback · 5–30% savings	pip install pypdf

Both are optional — the tool detects what's available and offers to install missing ones on first run.

Other products

• Chrome Extension — compress PDFs in the browser (5–40%, up to 50 MB)
• Web Compress — drag-and-drop compression on phone/desktop

The desktop CLI with Ghostscript achieves 50–90% savings — the best compression for heavy PDFs.

License

MIT