In 1970, computer scientists used to perform mathematical algorithms in computer codes to find ways to decrease the file size. The process was time-consuming and agitating.
- Software To Compress Files For Mac Windows 7
- Software To Compress Files For Mac Windows 10
- How To Compress A File
- Compress Files On Computer
Adobe invented the PDF format. Try the highest quality optimize PDF online tool to reduce the size of your PDF files in seconds. Click the Select a file button above, or drag & drop files into the drop zone. Select the file you want to make smaller. After uploading, Acrobat automatically reduces the PDF file size. Download and install 7-Zip. 7-Zip is a free file compression program you can use to compress large files and folders. Use the following steps to download and install 7-Zip: Go to in a web browser. Click Download next to the latest version of 7-Zip. Download and install Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) on your PC/Mac, then open it and choose the Video Compressor tab. Step 2 Select a Video to Add Then you click the + sign or Document icon to add videos. Click it to choose a video from your computer. Apr 21, 2020 A fascinating Mac archiver software with support for most popular archive file formats. This software compresses files more times quicker than other similar programs. Apart from that, the app has full multicore assistance. This Mac file archiver can brag about great modern design. Turning a conventional file (whether picture, video, music file, document or other type) or folder into a compressed zip file is very easy on a Mac: Right-click (or Ctrl-click) the file or folder.
Because of this crisis, there has been an ever-growing need to design file compression tools to reduce the size of any file. Yes, we can say that technology has shown its forecast with growing applications and in-built functions of file compression.
In this article, we will explain the ways to compress files in Windows and Mac to simplify your computer system’s disk drive. But before let’s grasp the understanding of File compression and why we need this.
What is File Compression and its various methods?
File compression is a process to decrease the file size to use less disk space. This process is used to send a file from a computer to another with a limited connection bandwidth. File compression is performed by the following methods:
Lossless Compression
This method uses data compression algorithms that enable the original data to be restored from the reduced data. Lossless file compression compresses a file without degrading its quality. Moreover, this compression uses Run Length Encoding (RLE), Huffman Coding and Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) algorithms.
Lossy Compression
This method results in degrading data and quality from the original version of the file. This procedure is related to JPEG image format and audio files like MP3s or AAC files. Moreover, lossy compression uses fractal compression, Transform coding, DWT, RSSMS, and DCT.
Now, we will share the method to compress files in different Operating Systems.
How To Compress Files In Windows?
Here is the good news for newbies, who wish to learn file compressing in an easy method. Windows 10 comes with the support of file compression. So you don’t need any third-party applications to reduce the file size of your document. Follow the steps below to start the procedure:
Software To Compress Files For Mac Windows 7
- Go to the File Explorer, by pressing window key + E simultaneously. Select the file/folder you wish to compress. By right-click select Add to archive.
- A new window box will appear, where you have to choose the archive format, rename file, and compression method.
- Your compressed file will look like this. I chose the ZIP archive format to compress the file.
How To Compress Files In Mac?
The reason behind compressing a file is that it takes less space than uncompressed files on your hard disk. Mac devices offer in-built compression option for ZIP format. Follow these steps to compress a file:
- Select Finder and choose the file/folder you wish to compress.
- Choose Compress “File Name”. And your file will be compressed in ZIP format
- A new copy of the file will be created which will be in the ZIP format.
Using Third-Party File Compression Tools For Mac and Windows
You can use third-party tools for file compressions as well. Here are the third-party apps to use for your files and folders.
7-Zip (Windows)
This is a free, open-source compressing tool mainly runs on Windows. This is a free, open-source compressing tool mainly runs on Windows. With the help of this tool, you can easily transfer an open compressed file or large data with ease. 7-zip can package file formats into 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, and TAR formats.
You can download it from here.
IZArc (Windows)
This software is freeware but not an open-source. IZArc works with a ZIP, RAR, GZIP, tar.gz, bzip2, and 7z formats.
Additionally, IZArc also opens file formats like ISO, BIN, CDI and NRG. This software supports 256-bit AES encryption which helps secure your data
You can download it from here.
WinZip (Mac)
This software helps in opening the major compressed file formats such as Zip, Zipx, RAR, LHA, 7Z, JAR, WAR. This software can open different compressed file formats and also creates Zip files including Zipx files, WinZip’s smallest file size to date.
You can download from here.
The Unarchiver (Mac)
Software To Compress Files For Mac Windows 10
This software is easy to use that can compress files with ZIP, RAR, Gzip, Bzip2. This software also supports 7-zip, LhA, StuffIt and obscure format.
You can download from here.
What are the common image formats and best uses:
BMP
BITMAP (BMP) files are the image format that is used by Microsoft operating systems. We can’t use BMP for web purposes. These BMPs stores color data of each pixel image without compression. A bitmap is also called a raster graphic, which is a digital image formed by a matrix of dots.
EPS
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file formats are used in professional printing. This format is used in vector-based images including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW. Additionally, this file is also compatible with PostScript printers which are used for transferring files between several graphic applications.
GIF
A GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, which is mainly used in web graphics. This format is used widely after JPEG. This image format uses lossless compression, which means it doesn’t noticeably degrade the original image.
JPEG
JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. This format used in digital cameras to store photos because it supports 224 or 16,777,216 colors.
Moreover, it uses lossy compression. This format may reduce the size of the bitmap (BMP) file format without any degradation in quality.
PNG
PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. This file format is used for application graphics and also widely used on the Web.
This format supports an alpha channel and “RGBA” color space. There are three standard color channels (red, green and blue) with 256 levels of transparency.
Some other common file formats are PDF, PSD, TIFF, RAW and many more.
Final Word
There can be chances when we may run out of the storage space from our operating system. So of the most efficient ways is to compress the file or folder to save our system’s disk space.
By compressing a file, data uses less space, and we can easily share the files more quickly.
This was a quick guide to understand how to compress files in Windows and Mac. If I missed out at any point, let me know in the comment section below along with your views.
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In this article, we look at how to compress and decompress files on a Mac and the ways you can do that with different formats.
RAR vs. ZIP files: What is the difference?
Everyone knows what a ZIP file is. Once you've made a folder, you click on File and scroll down to “Compress “[file name]” and that turns whatever folder you’re compressing into a ZIP file.
How To Compress A File
Wherever you send it, whether someone is using a macOS device or Windows — or other operating system — a ZIP folder can be decompressed and opened. It is one of the most convenient ways to send large files in a single folder, usually through email or messenger platforms.
Some email systems, such as Gmail, limit the file size, so if something is too large they convert the contents into a Google Drive folder. And ZIP folders can be uploaded and shared using file-transfer systems and cloud-storage solutions.
Easy, right?
Yes, in most cases — unless the files have been corrupted or for some reason the receiving computer can’t decompress them — ZIPs work everywhere, on every device. ZIP files can be created and decompressed using native macOS systems that have worked this way since the file format was created.
One of the reasons ZIPs are so easy to create and unzip is they proprietary software was released into the public domain in 1989. Making ZIPs open-source, so that every operating system creator in the world could bake this into file formatting. Hence, how useful ZIPs are and why most people use them for sending and receiving large files on Mac’s.
A RAR file, on the other hand, is a little different.
RAR files are, in many ways, more secure. RAR files are a proprietary archive format (file prefixes usually look like .rar). RAR files are named after the Russian developer who created this format, and it stands for: Roshal ARchive files.
Compress Files On Computer
RAR files also benefit from being able to compress much larger amounts of data. It is said they can compress up to one billion gigabytes (also known as an exabyte). They compress and transmit more quickly. RAR files are more secure, can be password protected (as can ZIPs) and even encrypted, using AES-256 encryption.
How to compress and decompress RAR files on a Mac?
RAR files are more complicated to compress and decompress.
With RAR files being the result of proprietary software, you need to download software to create and decompress RAR files on your Mac. Apple’s Archive Utility does not support RAR, so you need to find another way to work with these files.
One option is The Unarchiver, a free third-party macOS app.
With this, a MacPaw app, you can open RAR on Mac. It’s times more powerful than the native macOS utility and supports infinitely more archive formats. Download and install The Unarchiver. It’s free and there is no need for in-app purchases. Now whenever you want to send or receive a RAR file, use The Unarchiver to compress and decompress these files. It really is as easy as that! Over time, ZIP and RAR files can take up space. This can slow your Mac down. Or maybe you’ve lost a file and want to find it again. We've got a solution for those problems.
How to find your hidden archives?
Sometimes we download an archive, unpack it and then forget to delete the archive. Over time, they occupy more and more space and clutter up our hard drive. Here is a tip on how to find and delete ZIP, RAR and other files that you don't need anymore.
- Firstly, get CleanMyMac X (Download a free version here)
- Now click Large & Old files
- Next sort the results by Archives: this will show hidden and forgotten ZIP and RAR files;
- Either delete or unzip/decompress them and free up some space.
As you can see, I’ve found 6.6 GB worth of archives on my Mac.
Something else CleanMyMac X can do is find hidden files with the Space Lens feature. This way, you can more easily find what you've been looking for. It’s also a convenient way to clear out files that are taking up too much space when they're not needed anymore.
CleanMyMac X is a useful Mac performance improvement app. It can get your Mac running as good as new again. Creating more space and improving how other apps and the operating system performs, with maintenance scripts and other handy tools.
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