reduce pdf file size / compress pdf file size through Macro VBA

[prati]

Hey,

I wonder if there is a way to reduce pdf file size through Macro VBA.
I don't have Adobe Acrobat Professional, so I need a free way to achieve this goal.
I know two software's that can reduce pdf file size for free.

First software - Free PDF Compressor

Below are the files of the program - the program has main dll files gsdll32.dll and gswin32c that make the compression

Below is the main window of the program

Second software - Compress PDF - Reduce pdf size easily - Free PDF Compressor

Below are the files of the program - the program has several dll files

Below is the main window of the program

The question is how can I use one to the above programs through VBA In order to reduce pdf file size and not through the graphical / user-friendly interface.

Any alternative free way to reduce pdf file size only through VBA plus a free software would be perfect as well

 

[John_w]

The 4dots compressor can be called from the command line:

4dots Free PDF Compress - Command Line Usage

Compress PDF Documents and Reduce PDF Size - Free PDF Compressor to Shrink PDF Documents - Command Line Usage

www.4dots-software.com

In VBA use the Shell function or WScript.Shell object to run the command line string.

 

[prati]

The 4dots compressor can be called from the command line:

4dots Free PDF Compress - Command Line Usage

Compress PDF Documents and Reduce PDF Size - Free PDF Compressor to Shrink PDF Documents - Command Line Usage

www.4dots-software.com

In VBA use the Shell function or WScript.Shell object to run the command line string.

Thanks

I created the macro below but nothing happened it seems i failed to run it from command

Public Sub CompressPdf_4dots()

Dim Wsh As Object 'WshShell

Set Wsh = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") 'New WshShell

Wsh.Run ("cmd /c 4dotsFreePDFCompress " & "C:\Temp\Example.pdf"""), 0, True

End Sub

Of course I put a pdf file named Example at C:\Temp
and it's the only file in the folder

 

[John_w]

Looks like insufficient quotes. Please use VBA code tags -

Wsh.Run "cmd /c 4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & """C:\Temp\Example.pdf""", 0, True

You might need the full path to the .exe if it isn't in the Path environment variable.

 

[prati]

Looks like insufficient quotes. Please use VBA code tags -

Wsh.Run "cmd /c 4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & """C:\Temp\Example.pdf""", 0, True

You might need the full path to the .exe if it isn't in the Path environment variable.

Hey
I use the full path
Wsh.Run "cmd /c\PdfPrograms\4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & """C:\Temp""", 0, True

The code just load all the files located in C:\Temp....

I thought that the code can work "behind the scenes" like PDFtk server......In another words, I thought It could compress all the files without showing the graphical interface.

 

[prati]

Hey
I use the full path
Wsh.Run "cmd /c\PdfPrograms\4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & """C:\Temp""", 0, True

The code just load all the files located in C:\Temp....

View attachment 44974

I thought that the code can work "behind the scenes" like PDFtk server......In another words, I thought It could compress all the files without showing the graphical interface.

I changed the command as follows

Wsh.Run "cmd /c\PdfPrograms\4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & """C:\Temp""" & " " & ", 0, True

Now it doesn't load the program

 

[John_w]

Try the command from a command prompt, as shown in the examples.

 

[prati]

Looks like insufficient quotes. Please use VBA code tags -

Wsh.Run "cmd /c 4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & """C:\Temp\Example.pdf""", 0, True

You might need the full path to the .exe if it isn't in the Path environment variable.

Hey,
As usual you are a Genius.
Since it is not in the enviroment i replaced the word cmd with the full path. Now it work's


Public Sub Compress_Pdf_4dots()
Dim s as String
Dim Wsh As Object 'WshShell
Set Wsh = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") 'New WshShell

s = "c:\PdfPrograms\4dotsFreePDFCompress.exe " & "C:\Temp" & " /overwrite"
Wsh.Run s, 0, True
End Sub

Could you explain what the 0 does?
What the True does?

I just copy the Wsh.Run s, 0, True in every macro without knowing what it actully does.

Anyway - it works perfect - compress all the files in C:\Temp folder and also overwrite the existing files.

 

[John_w]

Wsh.Run s, 0, True

The 2nd argument is windowStyle, where 0 means hide.

 

[prati]

The VBA code works great, however 4dots pdf compressor sometimes destroy the pdf files, sometimes fill the page with black background.
I should search for alternative way to compress pdf through vba.

The code itself indeed works great.
The compressor/the application is bad. Even if the pdf size become smaller, the downside is that several pages in the pdf files have an error.
I should search for alternative command line solution