Handbrake is an open source video compression tool for Mac and PCs that allows you to significantly compress video files without loss of quality. In my example, I was able to compress a video with an original file size of 97.1 MB to only 23.6 MB.
The video below demonstrates how to use the Handbrake application to compress video files.
When creating PowerPoint Presentations we frequently forget to optimise images that we have included in the presentation. This results in a large file size, which may be too large to email or use up unnecessary student download limits. Through the use of the Compress Picture option, it is possible to optimise all images in a presentation at one time.
Using the Compress Picture approach, I compressed an PowerPoint presentation with an original size of 21.9 MB to 3.5 MB, without loss of quality for onscreen viewing.
The following video demonstrates the use of the Compress Picture option in PowerPoint. This feature is also available in Microsoft Word.
There are times when you need to be able to compress a PDF file so it can be emailed, uploaded or shared but the file size of your PDF document is too large. Here are some ways you can compress a PDF file.
Adobe Acrobat Professional
If you have access to Adobe Acrobat Professional within your university, PDF files can be compressed with the Reduce File Size option. Using this feature, I was able to compress by PDF file from 15.6 MB to 3.2 MB.
The following video demonstrates how to compress a PDF using the Reduce File Size feature of Adobe Acrobat Professional.
SmallPDF.Com
SmallPDF.com is a free website that allows you to create and manipulate PDF files. Using this web application I was able to compress my PDF from 15.6 MB to 2.5 MB without any loss of quality.
The following video demonstrates how to compress a PDF file using SmallPDF.com.
