PDF Shrink
$35.00
One-Time Purchase
This app is no longer supported by it's developer. You can find similar apps here.
PDF Shrink overview
PDF Shrink can reduce most PDF files - including those created by Mac OS X iLife and iWork applications, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Word & PowerPoint - by as much as 90% of their original size. PDF Shrink is ideal for consumers and small businesses that need to produce PDFs at a quality and file size appropriate for use on the Web, as email attachments, CD-ROMs and for on-screen reading. The software is compatible with OS X 10.4 and supports PDF Services, droplets, and AppleScript.
Images make up a significant part of the size of typical PDF file. PDF Shrink can modify the resolution and compression level of the images to match different requirements. Fonts can also make PDFs larger than necessary so Shrink allows you to optionally remove embedded "base 14" fonts. Shrink can also delete unused elements such as metadata, thumbnails and duplicated data.
Protect your documents using PDF Shrink's new encryption feature. Prevent unauthorized access by adding a password or restrict use by selecting from several options including whether to allow changes, printing and content extraction. You can even set a different password to prevent unauthorized people from opening the PDF.
Need PDF optimized for a different use? The intuitive new wizard removes the jargon and unfamiliar terms from selecting different configurations to produce PDF optimized for different uses. Just tell the wizard how you plan to use your PDF and Shrink 4 picks the appropriate settings for you. Or use the Advanced mode to directly specify your settings.
PDF Shrink can be used in several different ways - drag-n-drop a PDF to the application icon or Dock, drag-n-drop to a setting, print through PDF Services, create a droplet or use AppleScript.
How much can PDF Shrink reduce the size of my PDF files? PDF files can be created by so many different applications that it is difficult to give one answer. PDF Shrink can reduce most types of PDF files by up to 10% to 90% of their original size.
What’s new in version 4.9.1
Updated on Oct 24 2018
Version 4.9.1:
- Fixed an issue corrupting some PDF files created on Mac OS X 10.12
Information
App requirements
- Intel 64
- OS X 10.8 or later
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User Ratings
Oct 24 2018
Version: 4.9.1
Incredible but true! The switch to 64 bits has been done, after 5 years since the last version, and it works perfectly. Thanks! :-)
Jun 10 2018
Version: 4.8
Although PDF Shrink hasn't seen a major update in a while, it remains my favorite tool for shrinking PDFs. I have Acrobat Pro and a few other PDF tools (including other PDF "shrinkers"), but PDF Shrink routinely seems to give the best combination of speed, compression, and accuracy/quality out of all of them. I've also seen a few cases where PDF files that were not opening correctly in programs like Adobe Reader or Apple Preview worked fine after processing with PDF Shrink. I particularly like the easy-to-use "Droplets," which allow you to save particular settings as mini-apps. Drag and drop a PDF file on a droplet, and it automatically will process the file accordingly.
My only complaint is that the "Check for Updates" command seems to be broken, and the Apago website doesn't make it easy to determine if there is a new version. (You need to enter a name and email address to download the latest version, and then you need to "Get Info" on the downloaded app or actually open the app to see what version it is. FWIW, as of June 2018, the latest version is 4.9.1, released in 2016.)
My only complaint is that the "Check for Updates" command seems to be broken, and the Apago website doesn't make it easy to determine if there is a new version. (You need to enter a name and email address to download the latest version, and then you need to "Get Info" on the downloaded app or actually open the app to see what version it is. FWIW, as of June 2018, the latest version is 4.9.1, released in 2016.)
May 2 2018
Version: 4.8
I have had PDF Shrink for ages. Now it has disappeared and this site wants $35. I feel like I've been kidnapped and raped. Anyone can help solve this? Thanks
Feb 10 2018
Version: 4.8
Amongst all the shrinkers I could try, PDF Shrink is not the best, size wise (Shrinkit is), but it gives you the most compatible output.
I'm using a random simple one page pdf for this test:
- Shrinkit can give weird characters in Acrobat (probably doesn't store the correct encoding format)
- PdfCompress gives an almost blank document in Acrobat (while ok in Skim)
- Preview's integrated "reduce size" option alters images
As I'm searching for a totally reliable solution for archiving, PDF Shrink is the best I found, though it has not been updated for years and is 32 bits only — making it a poor choice for recent OSes, given its high price.
Dec 20 2015
Version: 4.8
Got it today after trying several programs to cut down the size of pdfs. This is expensive, but does work very well. FYI - currently running Mac OSX 10.11.2
Nov 24 2015
Version: 4.9
Apago! Are you joking? After downloaded and drag PDF Shrink 4.9 to Applications folder, PDF Shrink refuse to open. When I click to open PDF Shrink, a dialog stated that the app is damaged and should be move to Trash pop up,
Are you checking your app before release? My Mac is running 10.11.2 beta 4
Fix immediately please
Jun 9 2014
Version: 4.8
How is PDF Shrink worth 900% more than PDF Squeezer? It doesn't perform 900% better. And I've found PDF Shrink's "customer service" to be dismissive and rude, not 900% better than PDF Squeezer's. Then today I found out that files reduced by PDF Shrink will get bigger again if re-saved by Apple's Preview app. But PDF Shrink doesn't want you to know that so they never mention it on their website. Arrgh!
Feb 7 2014
Version: 4.8
The one is the one that does not destroy the page index or the produce the false colors of embedded pictures comparing to the applications under $5.
Jan 21 2014
Version: 4.8
I was looking for an application that can reduce the size of my curriculum vitae in PDF format because the website where I wanted to upload it didn't accept pdf file that exceed 200 k.o.
I downloaded and tried PDF Shrink along with two other application : PdfCompress and PDF Squeezer and here're the results :
PdfCompress : 127 ko
PDF Squeezer : 131 ko
PDF Shrink : 123 ko
PDF Shrink did the best work. The only problem with this application is that it's not very user-friendly comparing to the two other application, you need to tweak with it a little while before mastering it. Not to mention that it is overpriced.
It's a very useful tool that I'd buy when it is on sale on MacUpdate.
May 24 2013
Version: 4.5.3
I disagree with some of the previous comments about ease of use and interface. The interface looks very nice, I didn't find anything complicated about the setup whatsoever. There was an option for dropping the file here for emailing, here for iPhone and iPad use, here for web, etc. and I used those to great success.
I literally installed the software, opened it, dropped my first PDF file onto it, PDF Shrink reduced it to a tenth of its former size, and I had my file -- all in about 3 minutes. It was super-easy, super-clear, and super-effective.
I haven't tried any of the customizing and have only used it once, but based on this experience I can only lament that I have but two thumbs to put up.
Sep 22 2012
Version: 4.5.3
You can shrink any PDF yourself if you use Preview.app's "Save As" functionality and use Quartz Filter's "Reduce Size" setting.
So why would you need a tool like this? Simply because it gives you a much more fine-grained control over which aspects of the PDF are to be shrunk (reduced in quality), and by how much (Quartz's approach is brute-force, maximum compression).
PDF-Shrink uses an extremely ugly, decidedly Windows-ish interface that sometimes goes out of it's way to make the set-up process more difficult and technical than it needs to be.
However, after setting it up, the results are well worth it. We produce documentation that is to be read on-line and that usually contains a lot of imagery. Uncompressed the files are 80-100 MB. When we use Quartz for compression, the results are much smaller, but unacceptable.
Using PDF Shrink we control the quality of color images to be shrunk to 200 dpi, and greyscale to 150 dpi, which is well enough for both screen and casual prints. The file goes down in size to 5-8 MB, which is very, very nice.
May 5 2012
Version: 4.5.3
Current version is 4.6.3
I compared this against several other apps/techniques for compressing ebooks and Shrink pretty consistently resulted in 10% smaller files. (72 dpi, low quality, for iPad)
Whether that is enough to justify $35 more than Quartz filters (free) or more basic app such as Squeeze ($2) is up to you.
Jul 2 2011
Version: 4.5.3
Perfection. I love this program. =D Thank you for making it.
Jun 24 2011
Version: 4.5.3
Tried to compress two files but it did not compress the PDF files. Same exact size, so this doesn't work. The features and concept are cool and easy who to use. You just drag and drop the PDF but the output file is not compressed so pointless. Too good to be true for the price. :-) Moved to trash.
Mar 15 2011
Version: 4.5.3
Being on the road you have to often send PDFs for expenses this has been a LIFESAVER!!! I would HIGHLY recommend it! Thank you!!!
Dec 9 2010
Version: 4.5.3
Gonna have to give this one some props...simple to use, does the job well. It just took a 4.7mb pdf I wanted to email down to 319k while maintaining pretty good quality.
Mar 30 2010
Version: 4.5.3
PDF Shrink does the job and does it well.
But PDF compression should be built into the OS.
It turns out that it is:
How-To - http(colon-slash-slash)www(dot)hoboes(dot)com(slash)Mimsy(slash)?ART=360
Apple Discussion Board - http(colon-slash-slash)discussions(dot)apple(dot)com(slash)thread(dot)jspa?messageID=6109445&tstart=0
On the other hand, if you don't have time to tinker with filters, PDF Shrink does the job well. If we went the PDF Shrink route, I'd have to put PDF Shrink on four designer computers so we are building our own filters instead. Plus, core OS filters are likely to be compatible with future OS without updating costs.
Jan 10 2010
Version: 4.5.3
Magic !
I have succeeded easily in compressing 100Mo of a PDF booklet made with Illustrator, in a PDF file of only 3Mo, without altering so much all the drawings and pictures contained in each page. Especially the letters on the figures were still readable after the compression.
I tried many other software , but none of them were as powerful as this one.
I really recommend this software if you want to make small file size in PDF wiht keeping a very high resolution.
Amazing soft !
Oct 28 2009
Version: 4.5
I Aapologize. Actually, this app enables fine tuning the compression, even differentiating the compression quality of the components of the PDF (text, graphics, color pictures, etc.
I am very impressed by how efficient and convenient this app is.
Oct 26 2009
Version: 4.5
This app works perfectly and the quality is impressive. Unfortunately one cannot target a specific size. There are only four options and no intermediate possibility.
$35.00
One-Time Purchase
This app is no longer supported by it's developer. You can find similar apps here.
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