Metaobject — a Berlin-based company that creates publishing software solutions and technologies — has updated PdfCompress, the compression tool for Quartz PDF files, to version 2.0, adding a second compression method.
In addition to photographic images, which are still compressed using the JPEG method, PdfCompress now also compresses bi-level images using the lossless CCITT Group 4 compression method used in fax transmission, according to MacTech magazine. PdfCompress applies JPEG compression to photographic images contained in PDF files, “dramatically” reducing the size of PDF files produced by Mac OS X that contain images by up to a factor of 10 without visibly altering image quality, according to Marcel Weiher of Metaobject.
The application can be run from the Finder’s Contextual menu or by dragging and dropping items onto the application’s icon. It also boasts settable compression strengths. PdfCompress is compatible with Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar); the cost is US$25 per seat.