We explored some utilities to optimize png, jpeg and gif images earlier. Though they yield very good results, a common problem is the need to specify the optimization level manually. Most users would use a 80%-85% level in fear of ruining the image quality. imgmin is a promising project that attempts solves this problem by calculating the optimal level mathematically and automating the process without manual intervention. Continue reading imgmin: optimize JPEG images automatically
Tag: compression tool
lrzip: compress large files more
lrzip or Long Range ZIP is an archiver with better compression for large files (> 100MB). It uses more memory to achieve this. lrzip extends the first pass long distance redundancy reduction done in rzip by scaling it according to the available memory. The compression can be LZMA, ZPAQ, LZO, GZIP or BZIP2, However, in our tests we got the best results with ZPAQ. Continue reading lrzip: compress large files more
Extract exe & cab files on Linux
Linux users can run exe files using wine. What if you want to extract the contents of MS executables or cabinet files on Linux? This article explains the cmdline way and is a follow-up of our earlier article on enabling extra compression formats on Linux. Continue reading Extract exe & cab files on Linux
makeself: self-extracting archive
Remember self-extracting archives from WinZip? Ever wonder how packages for games like Quake 3 or Return To Castle Wolfenstein, drivers from nVidia, VirtualBox etc. extract and install themselves? makeself is the utility script that powers these packages on Linux Continue reading makeself: self-extracting archive
Optimize images from cmdline
There are many situations where you would want to optimize or compress images. For example, to send family pics to your parents or to upload in your website. Though new image formats are emerging, JPEG, PNG and GIF are still the most used formats. Continue reading Optimize images from cmdline
Compress PDF files on Linux
The major benefit of PDF documents is the intended representation remains almost same on any operating system or device. However, scanned PDFs can be of large sizes and you may need to optimize or reduce the size of the file to share it with a friend. Continue reading Compress PDF files on Linux
unp: single command to extract archives
We explored patool in one of our earlier articles. unp (abbreviation of unpack) is a similar utility which detects the compression type of a file and extracts it. Though it is less powerful than patool by flexibility, it compensates through ease of use, supports commonly used formats and does what it claims. unp is written in python. Continue reading unp: single command to extract archives
TinyJPG: optimize JPG, PNG images
We explored some options to optimize images like Trimage or Kraken earlier. TinyJPG is a new online service to squeeze images with a difference. It strikes a balance between quality and image size so that the difference between the optimized and original images is not visually detectable. Continue reading TinyJPG: optimize JPG, PNG images
Leanify: lossless file optimizer
Leanify is a cmdline utility to minimize or optimize files without any loss of quality. It removes redundant data like debug information, comments, metadata etc. from files. Continue reading Leanify: lossless file optimizer
patool: extract archives with one tool
I remember a former colleague who would always confuse the switches for gzip and bzip2 to tar. That led to a lot of confusion among people when he sent packages to them. However, I do not blame him. Using compressed archive files on Linux needs you to remember a lot of switches. Though tar can detect the file format (gzip/bzip2) nowadays while extracting, how about a tool that could handle many more compression types? Continue reading patool: extract archives with one tool
