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submitted 6 months ago by cm0002@toast.ooo to c/privacy@programming.dev

Every time you upload a PDF or image to a random “free” compression site, you’re handing over the full file (sometimes including hidden metadata like GPS location, device info, and embedded text) plus your IP address and usage data.

You have no idea how long it’s stored, logged, or reused. Compression doesn’t require a server; it can run entirely in your browser.

Witty University built a simple local HTML tool that compresses PDFs and images 100% offline, nothing gets uploaded: https://university.witty.computer/product/universal-local-compressor-private-pdf-image-optimizer-runs-100-in-your-browser/

Privacy is basic hygiene.

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[-] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Or save yourself $15 and just make a function to something that you probably already have on your Linux system:

shrink_pdf () 
{ 
    if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]; then
        echo 'Usage:  shrink_pdf <input file> <output_file>' 1>&2;
        echo '                   make sure to enclose file name in quotes' 1>&2;
        echo '                   if it has spaces' 1>&2;
        return;
    fi;
    gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/printer -dNOPAUSE -dQUIET -dBATCH -sOutputFile="$2" "$1"
}

Change options as you want, and run it like:

shrink_pdf Original.pdf Compressed.pdf

this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
51 points (94.7% liked)

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