PDF Squasher

What is PDF-Squasher?

PDF-Squasher can reduce certain types of PDF plots by squashing repetitive rectangles into one.

Example: Compare original and squashed PDF plots: both should appear the same (or very similar), but try to edit them in Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape and you'll notice the difference.

More information

  • PDF-Squasher is free software (GPLv3)
  • written by Assaf Gordon.
  • Runs on GNU/Linux, Mac-OS X
    (not tested, but likely elsewhere as well)
  • for source-code, installation instructions and more technical details, see: https://github.com/agordon/pdf-squasher.
  • If you can't (or prefer not to) run PDF-Squasher on your computer, use the online version below.
  • I'm indebted to Russell Nathan Hyer, maintainer of GNU PDF, for his patience and great assistance.

Online PDF Squasher

Select a PDF file (from your computer) and click squash to run PDF-Squasher (the squashed file will be returned).

PDF file to squash:

Remember

  • PDF-Squasher is comes WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure the resulting squashed PDF is valid, and conveys the same information as the original PDF.
  • PDF-Squasher is effective only on certain types of plots, not all pdf files will benefit from being squashed.
  • Online PDF-Squasher runs on a weak server and can only handle PDF of limited size. Run PDF-Squasher locally for faster results.
  • For best results, Generate PDF directly in R (using the `pdf` output device). If using Postscript output (`.ps` files), convert to PDF using the `ps2pdf` command line program. *DO NOT* use Mac-OS-X built-in preview program or its 'Export to PDF' method - as the exported PDF will contain many superfluous drawing commands which will prevent squashing.