Python File Compressor (pyfcomp)

A robust, modern, and highly efficient file compression tool. Originally designed under the Unix philosophy of simplicity and specialization, pyfcomp has evolved into a complete multi-format compressor, offering both a command-line interface (CLI) and a user-friendly, auto-localized graphical user interface (GUI).

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Current Features

• Smart Multi-Format Compression:
  • PDF: Optimizes internal structures (removes duplicate objects, compresses fonts, and metadata) and optionally reduces the size of internal embedded images.
  • Images: Supports .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .webp, applying smart resizing and quality compression profiles.
  • Videos: Automatic transcoding to H.264 (MP4/MKV/AVI/MOV) via FFmpeg, with fine-grained control over audio bitrate, visual quality (CRF), and resolution.
  • ZIP: Re-compresses .zip files using the maximum efficiency of the DEFLATE algorithm (level 9).
• Color Removal (Grayscale): Option to convert images (standalone or embedded in PDFs) to black and white (grayscale), further reducing file size for scanned documents and text-heavy files.
• Multilingual Graphical Interface (GUI): A modern native interface (built with Gooey) that automatically detects the operating system's language (supporting Portuguese, German, and English) and translates all menus, dialog buttons, and error warnings.
• Smart Routing: The system automatically detects the input file type and routes it to the correct compressor algorithm, requiring zero user configuration.

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Compression Level Matrix

The system maps compression rates from 0 (minimum aggressiveness) to 5 (maximum space saving) custom-tailored per format:

Format	Level 0	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3 (Default)	Level 4	Level 5
PDF	Basic structural rewriting	Light structural optimization	Strong structural optimization	Images at 1500px, Quality 75%	Images at 1000px, Quality 50%	Images at 600px, Quality 25%
Images	Basic file optimization	Basic file optimization	Basic file optimization	Resizing to 1920px, Quality 80%	Resizing to 1280px, Quality 60%	Resizing to 800px, Quality 40%
Videos	High fidelity (CRF 18), Audio 192k	Very high quality (CRF 20), Audio 192k	High quality (CRF 22), Audio 160k	Medium quality (CRF 26), 1080p, Audio 128k	Moderate quality (CRF 30), 720p, Audio 96k	Maximum compression quality (CRF 35), 480p, Audio 64k
ZIP	DEFLATE Level 1	DEFLATE Level 1	DEFLATE Level 3	DEFLATE Level 5	DEFLATE Level 7	DEFLATE Level 9 (Maximum)

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Prerequisites

1. Python Dependencies: Using a virtual environment (venv) is highly recommended.

   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. System Tool (FFmpeg):

   • Video compression requires FFmpeg to be installed on your operating system and added to your PATH.
   • If FFmpeg is not detected when attempting to compress a video, the application will display a clear and safe warning error.

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How to Use

1. Graphical Interface (GUI) - Recommended for manual usage

Start the multilingual visual window:

python gui.py

2. Command Line Interface (CLI) - Recommended for automation

Base syntax:

python pyfcomp.py <file_path> [options]

CLI Parameters and Options:

• input_file: Path to the file you want to compress (PDF, Image, Video, or ZIP).
• -r, --rate: Compression level from 0 to 5. Default is 3.
• -o, --output: Destination path. If empty, the file will be saved in the same folder as the original with a _compressed suffix (or _comprimido in the PT GUI).
• -y, --yes: Overwrites the output file silently if it already exists.
• -g, --grayscale: Converts images/PDFs to grayscale (Black and White).

CLI Usage Examples:

• Standard Image compression (Level 3):

  python pyfcomp.py photo.png

• Aggressive Video compression (Level 4) with custom output:

  python pyfcomp.py recording.mp4 -r 4 -o /path/to/optimized_video.mp4

• Color removal in PDF (Grayscale) with extreme rate (Level 5):

  python pyfcomp.py document.pdf -r 5 -g -y

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Future Roadmap

• Batch Compression: Support for selecting entire directories and compressing multiple files in a queue simultaneously in both GUI and CLI.
• Native Multithreading: Internal parallel execution to compress PDF pages or multiple files from the queue.
• Smart Size Validation: If the final compressed file is larger than the original, the system will automatically revert to the original to save bytes and prevent data bloating.

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License

Copyright (c) 2026 João Paulo Silva Plöger.

This software is distributed under the terms of the Apache License 2.0. See the LICENSE file for more details.