Every claim here was measured.

What your host actually meters, Apple and Spotify’s real bitrate and artwork specs, and the cover-art trap that ruins an otherwise good compression pass.

Guide·10 min

Court e-filing size caps quoted from the source, keeping a scanned exhibit searchable, and the metadata-removal step almost every instruction gets wrong.

Guide·12 min

Real MLS photo limits, quoted from the source: 125 KB at one MLS, 40 MB at another. Plus floor-plan PDFs, video tour rules, and what to resize to.

Guide·10 min

Gallery upload limits, print lab specs, and the IPTC copyright fields that disappear when you strip metadata. Plus where Lightroom export is already enough.

Guide·11 min

LCP, srcset, and format negotiation for developers. Which image decisions actually move Core Web Vitals, and where a build step beats a desktop app.

Guide·11 min

One exiftool process over a folder cleared 90 mixed files in 4 seconds. A shell loop took four times longer. Measured, with the gaps.

Guide·9 min

We inspected a fresh Mac screenshot: no GPS or camera data, only a color profile, a Screenshot tag and Finder attributes. See what it holds.

Guide·6 min

Usually not. ImageMagick, sips and ffmpeg all kept the GPS coordinates. Here is exactly what each tool leaves behind, measured.

Guide·8 min

Six routes compared on one test file. Only two leave your pixels untouched. The other four quietly re-encode the image.

Guide·12 min

exiftool does not actually delete PDF metadata — one command brings it back. Here is what does, measured on a test document.

Guide·10 min

Open the photo in Preview and use Tools > Show Inspector or Show Location Info, or run exiftool in Terminal. See which tool misses GPS.

Guide·6 min

Copy-paste exiftool commands to remove metadata on a Mac from the Terminal, run on macOS 27: keep color, dates and Finder tags, plus the PDF trap.

Guide·12 min

GPS lives in three places on a Mac, and removing it from one leaves the other two. Here is where it hides and which platforms actually strip it.

Guide·10 min

Image-geolocation models read the pixels, not the metadata. Here is what is actually demonstrated in the literature, and what reduces the risk.

Guide·11 min

The best EXIF metadata remover for Mac: ExifCleaner, ExifTool, Smol, Preview, Photos and ImageOptim compared on price, privacy, batch use and limits.

Roundup·9 min

EXIF data is the camera and shooting metadata stored inside a photo file. What it holds, how it differs from IPTC and XMP, and which fields identify you.

Guide·10 min

Strip it before it leaves your Mac, then check the four things stripping does not fix. A verified pre-flight checklist.

Guide·9 min

Adobe lists Acrobat Pro at US$239.88/yr. If you only need smaller PDFs, $29 once does it. The honest Acrobat alternative for Mac, and when to buy Adobe.

Comparison·12 min

Compress multiple PDFs at once on a Mac: a Finder Quick Action, a Ghostscript loop, a Folder Action, or a batch app. Working code and measured timings.

Guide·12 min

Merge JPGs and PNGs into one multi-page PDF on a Mac with Finder or Preview, no app needed. Includes page order, a Terminal option and the limits.

Guide·5 min

Compress a PDF for printing and keep 300 PPI, embedded fonts and the right color space. Measured: which presets are safe, which ruin the file.

Guide·10 min

Truly lossless PDF compression saved 0.1% to 13.8% in our tests. Here is what "without losing quality" can honestly mean on a Mac, measured.

Guide·10 min

Compress a scanned PDF on Mac and keep it searchable. Measured: which tools preserve an OCR text layer, which destroy it, and where readability collapses.

Guide·12 min

Compress a PDF on Mac from the Terminal with Ghostscript: one command took a 34.8 MB export to 251,841 bytes. Every command run and measured.

Guide·13 min

Convert DOCX to PDF on Mac for free with Pages, Print or one Terminal command. Batch commands included, plus why fonts change the layout. Tested.

Guide·9 min

Convert a JPG or PNG to PDF on a Mac in three ways: Preview, one Terminal command, or Smol for a whole folder. Includes what happens to page size.

Guide·5 min

Preview exports one page at a time; an Automator action exports every page. Convert a PDF to JPG on Mac five ways, plus the DPI that gives usable output.

Guide·10 min

Preview and sips both turn a PDF into a PNG on Mac, one page at a time. Keep transparency, export crisp 2× files, and fix soft output with DPI math.

Guide·9 min

Pages makes big PDFs when images are exported at Best quality. Lower the Image Quality, shrink the Pages file itself, or recompress the PDF afterward.

Guide·5 min

Gmail’s limit is 25 MB, but aim for 18 MB, because encoding adds a third. The real Gmail, Outlook and iCloud limits, and what to do if it still won’t fit.

Guide·9 min

How to compress a PDF on Mac: 5 methods tested on the same files. Preview cut a brochure to 5.65 MB but made a text PDF 111.8% bigger. Pick the right one.

Guide·14 min

Preview cut a 24.9 MB photo PDF to 3.93 MB in 1.8 seconds, free, no Acrobat needed. Ghostscript and Mac apps tested too; Acrobat Pro is US$239.88 a year.

Guide·11 min

To reduce PowerPoint file size on Mac, four measured routes shrank a 39 MB deck. Where the megabytes live and what Compress Pictures really does.

Guide·11 min

Three ready-to-use Quartz filter settings for Preview, with measured PDF sizes, plus the DPI trap that made one of ours ten times bigger than the original.

Guide·6 min

Looking for a PDF Expert alternative on Mac? See what PDF Expert costs, how its Reduce File Size works, and when a $29 compressor is the better pick.

Comparison·8 min

PDF size limits for Gmail, Outlook, ChatGPT, Claude and WhatsApp, which ones we could confirm, and how to get a PDF under any limit on a Mac.

Guide·6 min

PDF Squeezer is $19.99, on v4.9, and has more PDF controls than we do. The honest PDF Squeezer alternative comparison for Mac, including where it wins.

Comparison·9 min

Preview’s Reduce File Size is one fixed Quartz filter: JPEG at 0.70, 144 DPI, 2,400 px ceiling. Why it can fail on a PDF, and how to write your own.

Guide·9 min

Open the image in Preview, use Tools > Adjust Size to cut pixels, then File > Export and lower the Quality slider. Steps, measured sizes, and the limits.

Guide·5 min

Resize a PDF on a Mac two ways: change the page size (A4, Letter) or shrink the file size. We measured both, and one does not shrink anything.

Guide·6 min

Print to PDF on a Mac makes a huge file because it keeps every image at full size. Here is what the dialog does, and three ways to get a smaller PDF.

Guide·5 min

We ran the same PDFs through seven Mac PDF compressors and measured every byte. Rankings, real output sizes, prices, and what to use for 50 files at once.

Roundup·13 min

PDF quality settings explained: image downsampling, JPEG re-encoding, colour conversion, font subsetting, and what Tiny, Small, Medium and Large each change.

Guide·10 min

What DPI to compress a PDF to without blurry text: what 300, 150, and 72 DPI really do to body text, measured on four PDFs, plus a preset decision table.

Guide·11 min

Find out why your PDF is so large: images, scans, fonts and more. Check the cause in two minutes on a Mac, then pick the fix that actually shrinks it.

Guide·6 min

An InDesign PDF is this large almost always because images sit at camera resolution. What each export preset really does, measured, and how to fix one.

Guide·11 min

A PDF too big to upload is nearly always image resolution. Real limits from USCIS, the courts and Common App, plus a measured target-size table.

Guide·9 min

Batch convert HEIC to JPG on Mac with one Terminal line: 500 iPhone photos in 39 seconds, no upload. Sips, Automator and Preview compared, plus date traps.

Guide·12 min

Automator’s Scale Images action overwrites your originals in place. Build the safe version instead: tested workflow, real plist keys, 100-file timings.

Guide·10 min

A tested pre-commit hook, a lint-staged config and a CI image budget check, plus measured proof that deleting a committed asset never shrinks the repo.

Guide·11 min

Convert PNG, HEIC, TIFF or WebP to JPG on a Mac: Preview for one file, sips for a folder, Smol for mixed batches. Tested, with real file sizes.

Guide·6 min

Convert Sony ARW raw files to JPG on a Mac with Preview, Photos or a one-line Terminal command. Includes batch steps and the limits of each method.

Guide·6 min

Convert AVIF to JPG on Mac with one built-in command. Measured: the JPG lands 5.8x larger than the AVIF and scores worse. When to do it anyway.

Guide·8 min

Convert Canon CR2 and CR3 raw files to JPG on a Mac using Preview, Photos or sips. Batch steps, the CR2 vs CR3 difference, and when to use Canon software.

Guide·6 min

Convert DNG and iPhone ProRAW files to JPG on a Mac with Preview, Photos or sips. We timed it, measured the sizes, and tested where Smol falls short.

Guide·6 min

Convert HEIC to PNG on Mac in one command. Plus the measurement nobody shows you: a photo turned into PNG is 9.6x larger and not one pixel better.

Guide·7 min

A JFIF file is already a JPEG. Rename it to .jpg, or use Preview or sips to export a real .jpg or PNG. Tested on a Mac, with what each method does.

Guide·5 min

Convert JPG to PNG on Mac in one command. Measured: the PNG is 5 to 15 times larger and not one pixel better, because PNG is only lossless going forward.

Guide·8 min

Preview and sips cannot save WebP. Here is how to convert JPG to WebP on a Mac with cwebp or Smol, with measured file sizes and the color profile catch.

Guide·5 min

Convert Nikon NEF files to JPG on a Mac with Preview, Photos or one Terminal command. Includes batch steps and what each method costs you in quality.

Guide·6 min

Convert PNG to JPG on Mac with Preview, sips or a batch app, plus measured proof of what replaces transparency: white in sips, black in ImageMagick.

Guide·8 min

Convert PNG to WebP on Mac. macOS has no WebP encoder, so here are the tools that do, and the saving measured on screenshots, photos and line art.

Guide·9 min

Convert SVG to PNG or JPG on a Mac with sips in one line, and set the exact pixel size. Tested sizes and transparency, plus what Smol can and cannot do.

Guide·5 min

Convert TIFF to JPG on Mac with sips or Preview: a 300 dpi scan dropped from 25 MB to 1.8 MB. Why multi-page TIFFs lose pages, and whether colour survives.

Guide·8 min

Convert WebP to JPG on Mac with one sips command. Measured: the JPEG comes out 2 to 6 times larger, and an animated WebP quietly loses every frame but one.

Guide·8 min

Convert WebP to PNG on a Mac with Preview, sips or Smol. Measured: transparency survives, and photos grow a lot. Includes the one-line Terminal command.

Guide·5 min

AirDrop sends the photo file as it is, so quality is not reduced in transit. What changes is format and metadata. Here is what to check and how to shrink.

Guide·5 min

Use File > Export > Export Photos, then lower JPEG Quality and Size. What each option does, what to avoid, and how to shrink a whole batch.

Guide·5 min

Compress a TIFF on Mac with LZW or ZIP and keep it a TIFF, or convert it to JPG. Measured sizes on the same image, with the exact commands.

Guide·6 min

To compress an image on Mac, use Preview, sips, an online tool or a local app. All compared, plus how to pick JPEG, WebP or AVIF and keep photos sharp.

Guide·9 min

Convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac with Preview, sips, or a Finder Quick Action. Includes a measured quality-versus-size table and what happens to EXIF dates.

Guide·7 min

Increase image resolution on a Mac with Preview, sips or an upscaler. What each method really does to pixels, and when a bigger image looks no sharper.

Guide·6 min

Make a JPEG smaller on a Mac with Preview, sips or Smol. Why shrinking the pixels beats lowering quality, with measured sizes from one test file.

Guide·6 min

Shrink a photo before you text it from your Mac: cap the long edge at 1600 px and lower the quality. Free methods, measured sizes, and the iPhone setting.

Guide·5 min

Windows needs an HEVC decoder it does not ship. Here are the free Microsoft Store package, the free apps that bring their own decoder, and what to avoid.

Guide·7 min

Reduce HEIC file size on a Mac without converting to JPG: resize or lower quality in Preview, sips or Smol. Measured sizes from one test file.

Guide·5 min

Reduce PNG file size on a Mac: why PNGs get huge, what lossless tools really save, and when resizing or switching format is the fix. Measured sizes.

Guide·6 min

Resize a JPG or PNG on Mac with Preview, Photos or one sips command. Exact menu paths, a pixel-versus-file-size table and when to use a batch tool.

Guide·6 min

Image optimization for Core Web Vitals, measured: AVIF vs WebP vs JPEG at equal quality, what one unsized image does to CLS, and the fetchpriority rules.

Guide·13 min

JPEG vs JPG: there is no difference in quality or format, only the file extension. Why two spellings exist and how to rename .jpeg to .jpg on a Mac.

Guide·5 min

Use JPG for photos and PNG for screenshots, logos and transparency. We saved the same images both ways and measured the size gap. Plain rules inside.

Guide·6 min

Find your Mac screen resolution, then scale and crop any image to fit the wallpaper exactly with Preview or sips, with no black bars or stretched pixels.

Guide·6 min

Build a free Shortcuts workflow that resizes and converts images from a Finder right-click. Steps, the limits of Shortcuts, and when to use something else.

Guide·6 min

Resize photos for printing on a Mac: pixels needed for 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 at 300 DPI, how to set DPI in Preview or sips, and why DPI alone changes nothing.

Guide·6 min

The best AI image upscaler for Mac in 2026: Upscayl, Smol, Topaz Gigapixel, Pixelmator Pro and more, with prices and local versus cloud privacy.

Roundup·9 min

The best HEIC to JPG converter for Mac is already installed: Preview. Seven free and paid options compared on price, batch support and privacy.

Roundup·9 min

Best image compressor for Mac, picked from 10 tools and 6 measured on the same 24 photos. See which to use, what each costs, and where free tools win.

Roundup·20 min

The best image converter for Mac depends on batch size and formats. Preview, XnConvert, Smol and three more compared on JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and HEIC.

Roundup·10 min

WebP vs JPG compared with measured file sizes, SSIM scores and the compatibility facts that still matter on a Mac. Pick the right one in a minute.

Guide·6 min

iPhone photos are HEIC because Apple made it the default in iOS 11. Measured, HEIC is 32.3% smaller than JPEG at equal quality, plus the setting to change.

Guide·8 min

HEIC won’t open on Windows because it has no HEVC decoder by default, and Microsoft’s costs $0.99. Convert on the Mac first: 50 photos in 2.65 seconds.

Guide·7 min

Photos library too big for your Mac? What shrinks it (iCloud Optimize, moving it, deleting), what does not, and why compressing inside it is a trap.

Guide·6 min

Shrink a GIF on Mac with ffmpeg or an MP4 swap. Measured: 959 KB to 306 KB. Also what Smol does and does not do to animated GIFs.

Guide·6 min

A one-minute Mac screen recording is 56 MB; one ffmpeg command cut it to 1 MB. See which settings shrink it: resolution, keyframe interval and CRF.

Guide·9 min

Discord's free upload cap is 20 MB, Nitro Basic 50 MB, Nitro 500 MB. The bitrate arithmetic that hits a size target on the first try, verified by real encodes.

Guide·9 min

ProRes files are huge by design. Convert ProRes to HEVC or H.264 on a Mac with free tools or Smol, with measured sizes for each ProRes profile.

Guide·6 min

Shrink video for a website on a Mac: H.264 MP4, no audio, 720p to 1080p, faststart. Tested sizes, MP4 vs WebM, and the embed code to use.

Guide·6 min

Compress a video for Facebook or Messenger on Mac: the right format and settings for posts versus chats, with measured file sizes and free tools first.

Guide·6 min

Compress a video for Instagram Reels on Mac: the settings to use, what not to do, and measured file sizes at H.264 and H.265. Free tools first.

Guide·6 min

Compress a video for X on a Mac: use H.264 MP4, 1080p or lower, a moderate CRF. Free methods, tested sizes, and why X limits change by account.

Guide·5 min

Compress video on a Mac with one terminal command: the built-in avconvert, or ffmpeg with CRF. Real commands, measured sizes, and when a GUI is easier.

Guide·6 min

macOS cannot open many AVI files. Convert AVI to MP4 or MOV on a Mac with Smol or a free ffmpeg command, and see why QuickTime refuses the file.

Guide·5 min

Convert GIF to MP4 on Mac with ffmpeg: a 4-second photographic GIF was 8.3 MB, the same frames as H.264 just 260 KB. Plus batch and autoplay HTML.

Guide·9 min

M4V is Apple’s MP4 variant. Convert M4V to MP4 on Mac by renaming, a lossless copy, or Smol, and learn why DRM-protected iTunes files will not convert.

Guide·5 min

Converting MKV to MP4 on Mac is usually a rewrap, not a re-encode. The default command silently drops subtitle tracks; these commands keep them.

Guide·9 min

Convert a MOV or iPhone video to MP3 on a Mac with ffmpeg, or to M4A with QuickTime. Tested commands, measured sizes, and what Smol cannot do here.

Guide·5 min

MOV and MP4 are containers. If the codec inside is already H.264 or H.265 you can rewrap in under a second, bit-for-bit identical. Measured on macOS 27.

Guide·8 min

Two ways to convert MP4 to MKV on a Mac: a lossless remux with ffmpeg or a re-encode in Smol. Measured file sizes, plus when MKV is worth it.

Guide·5 min

Convert MP4 to MOV on a Mac for free with avconvert or ffmpeg, no re-encode needed. Also MKV to MOV and what Final Cut Pro wants.

Guide·5 min

Convert MP4 to MP3 on a Mac with one ffmpeg command, or to M4A with QuickTime. Tested commands, measured sizes, and what Smol cannot do here.

Guide·6 min

Convert MP4 to WebM on Mac with ffmpeg: there is no remux shortcut. Measured VP9 and AV1 sizes at equal quality, plus the Safari catch.

Guide·8 min

Convert MTS and AVCHD camcorder files to MP4 on a Mac. How to find the files inside the AVCHD package, plus two free lossless commands.

Guide·5 min

QuickTime can't open WebM, and a remux to MP4 still won't play. Measured on macOS 27: the re-encodes that work, and the HEVC tag trap.

Guide·8 min

Mac cannot open WMV files natively. Convert WMV to MP4 on Mac with a free terminal command, VLC, or Smol, and see what each one does to the file.

Guide·6 min

H.265 vs H.264, measured: H.265 saved 3% on a calm clip and 30% on a busy one, cost 1.7x the CPU, and plays fully on fewer browsers. When to pick each.

Guide·8 min

A 1080p video at 8 Mbps is about 60 MB a minute, and 4K at 35 to 45 Mbps is roughly 260 to 340 MB. Table by resolution, plus a formula to size any clip.

Guide·5 min

Batch compress videos on Mac with an ffmpeg loop, HandBrake’s queue, the hardware encoder, or a drop-in app. Same settings on each, and what differed.

Guide·9 min

Change video resolution on a Mac with QuickTime, avconvert, ffmpeg or Smol. Steps for 4K to 1080p and 720p, plus what we measured on a real test clip.

Guide·6 min

Compress 4K video on Mac: the Apple Silicon media engine ran 6 to 9 times faster than software encoding but made larger, lower-quality files.

Guide·8 min

How to compress a video on Mac with QuickTime Export As, ffmpeg, HandBrake or a native app, all measured on one file: real sizes, timings and VMAF.

Guide·13 min

To compress video for email, aim for 15 MB, not 25, because encoding overhead eats a third of the limit. Resolution advice and when to use Mail Drop.

Guide·8 min

Convert MOV or MP4 to GIF on Mac with one ffmpeg command or Gifski. QuickTime and Smol cannot do it, and GIFs run far bigger than video, so we measured.

Guide·6 min

Extract audio from a video on a Mac without uploading it: QuickTime for M4A, afconvert for WAV, ffmpeg for lossless copy or MP3. Tested, with sizes.

Guide·6 min

Remove the audio from a video on a Mac with iMovie, ffmpeg or Smol. One command mutes a file in under a second without touching the picture. We timed it.

Guide·6 min

We found no published AirDrop size limit. Big videos fail on connection and storage. Here is the fix list, plus how to shrink the file on a Mac.

Guide·6 min

MKV is not better quality than MP4. They are containers. Here is which one to use on a Mac, what you lose converting, and what we measured.

Guide·6 min

MP4 and MOV are containers, not quality levels. We rewrapped one clip both ways and measured. Here is which to use on a Mac and when it matters.

Guide·6 min

What "without losing quality" can and cannot mean for video, the four levers that change file size, and when remuxing beats re-encoding. Measured on a Mac.

Guide·10 min

Messages will not send your video? Shrink it first. Tested QuickTime, avconvert and HandBrake sizes, and what changes for green-bubble recipients.

Guide·6 min

The best video compressor for Mac depends on the job. Six free and paid options compared on price, privacy and batch support, free built-in method first.

Roundup·9 min

Bitrate is the number of bits per second of video, and it decides file size. See what to pick, how CRF replaces it, and real size changes from a test.

Guide·6 min

iPhone video is big because of 4K, 60 fps, HDR and ProRes. See which camera setting costs what, how to record smaller, and how to shrink clips on a Mac.

Guide·6 min

A video file is large because of pixels, frame rate, bitrate and codec. See what each one costs, with measured sizes, and how to shrink it on a Mac.

Guide·6 min

Audio bitrate is the bits per second a file spends on sound. CBR vs ABR vs VBR measured, why 128 kbps MP3 and Opus differ, and what bitrates cost in bytes.

Guide·10 min

AAC at 48 kbps mono made a 22 MB episode; MP3 at 128 kbps stereo made 58 MB. Measured mono, sample rate and bitrate, plus the -16 LUFS loudness target.

Guide·11 min

Convert AIFF to MP3 or WAV on a Mac with the Music app, afconvert or ffmpeg. Real file sizes from our test, plus an honest note on what Smol cannot do.

Guide·6 min

afconvert ships with macOS. Copy-paste commands to turn WAV into M4A, shrink bitrate, batch a folder, and see what it cannot do (MP3 output).

Guide·7 min

Convert FLAC to MP3 on Mac with the one ffmpeg flag that keeps your album art. Measured across every route, including the tools that delete the covers.

Guide·9 min

Convert FLAC to WAV or AIFF on a Mac with a built-in command. We checked the samples match bit for bit, and measured the file size jump.

Guide·5 min

Convert M4A to MP3 on Mac free with the Music app. Measured: which routes keep your tags and album art, and the built-in tool that cannot write MP3.

Guide·8 min

Convert M4A to WAV on a Mac with one free Terminal command, or in batches. Measured file sizes, 16-bit versus 24-bit, and what WAV cannot restore.

Guide·5 min

Convert MP3 to WAV on a Mac with a built-in command or the Music app. Measured sizes, and an honest test of what the WAV can and cannot get back.

Guide·5 min

Convert OGG to MP3 on a Mac with one ffmpeg command, VLC, or Smol. Includes a batch loop, what an .ogg file really is, and when a conversion is not needed.

Guide·5 min

Convert an .opus file or a WhatsApp voice note to MP3 on a Mac. One free command, one app, and one batch loop, with the file sizes we measured.

Guide·5 min

Convert WAV to MP3 on Mac for free in the Music app or with ffmpeg. Measured file sizes for every quality setting, plus VBR versus CBR explained.

Guide·8 min

Convert WMA to MP3 on a Mac, since macOS cannot open Windows Media Audio. One free command, VLC, or Smol, with the file sizes we measured.

Guide·5 min

Export a Voice Memo as MP3 on a Mac: drag it out, convert in Music or ffmpeg, and shrink it. Measured MP3 sizes at four bitrates for speech.

Guide·6 min

Batch convert audio files on Mac with Music, afconvert or ffmpeg. Measured on 14 tagged files: speed, output size, and which routes destroy your tags.

Guide·10 min

Compress an audio file on Mac free with the Music app, afconvert or ffmpeg. Measured sizes across four codecs and six bitrates, and how to pick one.

Guide·9 min

M4A vs MP3 explained: AAC usually sounds as good at a smaller size, but MP3 plays anywhere. Measured sizes, compatibility and how to convert on a Mac.

Guide·5 min

MP3 size is bitrate times length. Measured sizes from 320 to 64 kbps, when mono helps, and why re-encoding always costs some quality.

Guide·6 min

Convert WAV to FLAC or Apple Lossless in Terminal, verify nothing changed, then see what mono, 22 kHz and MP3 cost. Measured sizes for each option.

Guide·6 min

Best audio converter for Mac depends on your files. Compare the Music app, MediaHuman, ffmpeg, Smol, XLD, Permute and fre:ac on price, batch and privacy.

Roundup·8 min

WAV vs FLAC: both are lossless and sound identical, but FLAC was 4 to 5 times smaller in our test. Compatibility, tagging and how to convert on a Mac.

Guide·5 min

Build a compression Quick Action in Automator with working code, find where Quick Actions live on disk, and remove one cleanly. Tested on macOS 27.

Guide·9 min

A complete reference of the image, PDF, document, spreadsheet, video, audio, table and font formats Smol reads and writes on macOS, including what it cannot do.

Guide·7 min

The best file converter app for Mac depends on what you convert. Six tools compared on formats, price, batch support and whether your files leave your Mac.

Roundup·9 min

A measured sips command reference for macOS: resize, convert, quality values, ICC, metadata, and the flags that silently do nothing. Every example was run.

Guide·13 min

Make a Mac folder compress images the moment they land: a tested Folder Action script, the re-trigger loop that breaks most tutorials, and real latencies.

Guide·9 min

Adobe Media Encoder alternative for Mac: Smol compresses video locally for $29 once, no Creative Cloud. See what you give up and where Adobe wins.

Comparison·8 min

Looking for an Apple Compressor alternative on Mac? See where Apple’s $49.99 encoder wins, and when a $29 compressor for video, PDFs and images is enough.

Comparison·8 min

Caesium is free, open source and still shipping: its engine released v1.5.0 on 16 Sep 2026. The honest Caesium alternative comparison for Mac users.

Comparison·9 min

Clop is €15, free to try and updated constantly. An honest Clop alternative comparison for Mac: where its free tier and feature list stop, and when to stay put.

Comparison·10 min

CloudConvert handles 212 formats and needs no Mac. It also meters you and needs the upload. The honest CloudConvert alternative comparison for local work.

Comparison·10 min

Compresto is $49 for one Mac and genuinely good at video. The honest Compresto alternative comparison: AVIF, audio, Ghostscript, and what each app refuses.

Comparison·11 min

Looking for a FreeConvert alternative on Mac? Smol converts and compresses images, PDFs, video and audio on your Mac for $29 once, with no uploads.

Comparison·8 min

HandBrake is free, actively maintained, and hard to configure. The HandBrake alternatives for Mac worth using when you just want a smaller video file.

Comparison·12 min

Looking for an iLoveIMG alternative on Mac? Compare its free web tools and $4 Premium with a $29 app that never uploads your files. Honest verdict.

Comparison·8 min

iLovePDF's free Compress tool takes 2 files per task, 200 MB max, and Premium is $48/yr. Is iLovePDF free enough, or is a $29 one-time Mac app better?

Comparison·9 min

JPEGmini is $59 and brilliant at JPEG. It writes only JPEG. The honest JPEGmini alternative comparison for Mac: formats, price, trials and where it still wins.

Comparison·10 min

Optimage's last release was 26 Nov 2021 and its binaries are Intel-only. Apple ends Rosetta after macOS 27. The Optimage alternatives that run natively.

Comparison·9 min

Looking for a PDFelement alternative on Mac? Smol compresses PDFs, images, video and audio offline for $29 once. See what PDFelement does that Smol cannot.

Comparison·8 min

A fair Permute alternative comparison: Permute 4 costs $14.99 and needs macOS 26. Where it beats Smol, where Smol fits better, and who should buy which.

Comparison·9 min

Picmal and Smol are both $29 once. An honest Picmal alternative comparison: macOS 15, format breadth, Office files, upscaling, and who should buy which.

Comparison·10 min

A ShortPixel alternative for Mac that compresses locally, with no credits or uploads. See where ShortPixel wins, such as WordPress, and where Smol fits.

Comparison·9 min

ShrinkIt is a free Mac video compressor with a $14.99 Pro. See what it does well and what to use if you also need to compress images, PDFs or audio.

Comparison·8 min

Smallpdf Pro is $108/yr and its Mac desktop app has been unsupported since 2021. The Smallpdf alternatives that run locally on a Mac, with real prices.

Comparison·10 min

Dinky is free, MIT-licensed and 35 MB. Smol is $29 and 403 MB. An honest Smol vs Dinky comparison, including the four rows their table gets wrong.

Comparison·11 min

TinyPNG compresses images in the cloud with a 5 MB free limit. Smol runs unlimited compression locally on your Mac for a one-time $29. Full comparison.

Comparison·7 min

Smolr is a free open-source image compressor. Smol is a $29 Mac app for images, PDFs, video and audio. Two different apps; here is which one you want.

Comparison·9 min

Looking for a Squash alternative on Mac? Squash 3 is a batch photo editor with filters. Smol compresses images, PDFs, video and audio for $29 once.

Comparison·8 min

Squoosh still works, but no maintainer has shipped code since August 2024 and it has never had a batch mode. The Squoosh alternatives worth using on a Mac.

Comparison·11 min

Topaz ended perpetual licenses in 2025 and Adobe closed its acquisition in September 2026. The Topaz Gigapixel alternatives worth using on a Mac.

Comparison·10 min

XnConvert is free and reads 500+ image formats. Looking for an XnConvert alternative on Mac that also handles PDF, video and audio? Compare honestly.

Comparison·8 min

Zipic is free for 25 images a day, $19.99 for Pro. An honest Zipic alternative comparison: formats, automation, the MCP server, and what it will not touch.

Comparison·11 min

FAT32 drives cannot hold a file of 4 GB or more. Four Mac fixes: reformat to exFAT, split the file, shrink it, or send it another way. Tested on macOS.

Guide·6 min

Which CapCut desktop export settings shrink the file: resolution, bit rate, codec and frame rate. What to change first and what to leave alone.

Guide·6 min

Switch Mac screenshots from PNG to JPG or HEIC with one Terminal command, or convert old ones. Includes measured file sizes for each format.

Guide·6 min

Every CSV value is a string. Type inference is where conversions break, along with the jq recipe everyone copies. Measured on macOS 27 with the commands that work.

Guide·10 min

iPhone video not playing on PC? Convert HEVC to H.264 on Mac with avconvert, ffmpeg or Smol, or set the iPhone to Most Compatible. We tested all three.

Guide·6 min

Convert TTF to WOFF2 in one command. Measured: the format change saves 68%, subsetting to Latin saves another 87%, and one of those is the real win.

Guide·9 min

A three-sheet workbook becomes one CSV. Formulas become values. Leading zeros vanish on re-import. Every trap measured on macOS 27, with the flags that fix them.

Guide·10 min

The Deliver page settings that decide file size: format, codec, quality, resolution and encoder. Export a small MP4 from DaVinci Resolve on a Mac.

Guide·7 min

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Lossy compression discards detail, lossless does not. We re-saved real files ten times and measured what changed.

Guide·6 min

Choose Share > Export Song to Disk, pick MP3 or AAC and a lower quality, or shrink the finished file afterward. What changes size and what does not.

Guide·6 min

ChatGPT or Claude says your file is too large? Find out which limit you hit (size, pages or tokens) and how to shrink the file on a Mac in a minute.

Guide·6 min

The HandBrake settings that shrink a video on Mac: which preset, what RF value, H.265 or H.264. Measured sizes from the same clip, with exact steps.

Guide·7 min

HandBrake vs QuickTime for compressing video on a Mac, with Smol as a third option: price, control, batch support and sizes from one measured clip.

Roundup·9 min

Check file size on a Mac with Get Info, List view, the Finder status bar or Terminal. Includes folder size, size on disk, and why MB and MiB differ.

Guide·5 min

In our 23.75 MB test document, pictures were 99.9% of the bytes. How to compress pictures in Word on Mac, plus three other measured ways to shrink it.

Guide·9 min

Lower the Resolution, drop Quality to Medium, trim the project and re-compress the export. Four ways to shrink an iMovie file on a Mac, with free options.

Guide·6 min

Final Cut exports huge because Master File defaults to ProRes. Switch the codec to H.264 or HEVC, drop the resolution, or compress the file afterward.

Guide·7 min

Reduce file size on a Mac by file type. Free built-in routes for photos, PDFs, video and audio, why zipping rarely helps, and when an app is worth it.

Guide·7 min

Lossy compression deletes detail for small files, lossless keeps every bit. Real byte counts for images, audio and video, plus which to pick on a Mac.

Guide·6 min

How Mail Drop works on a Mac, its 5 GB and 30-day limits, why it may not be working, and when shrinking the file is the better way to send it.

Guide·6 min

Fix a photo that is too large to upload on a Mac: resize and re-export in Preview or Terminal, with measured sizes for each step and what to avoid.

Guide·6 min

Photos too large to email? Use the Image Size menu in Apple Mail, resize in Preview or sips, or send a Mail Drop link. Steps and measured sizes.

Guide·6 min

Crop and resize a passport photo on a Mac to a square 2x2 JPEG for online upload, with Preview or sips, and check the file size before the site rejects it.

Guide·6 min

Smallpdf vs iLovePDF compared on price, free limits and privacy as of October 2026, plus a local Mac option for files you would rather not upload.

Roundup·8 min

Smol vs ImageOptim on 24 photos: ImageOptim is free and faster on JPEG, Smol writes AVIF and WebP and handles PDF, video and audio. Measured results.

Roundup·8 min

VLC can convert video on a Mac, but it is a player first. Compare VLC, QuickTime, HandBrake, Smol and Permute for converting video, free and paid.

Roundup·10 min

There is no single good photo file size. Here is what to aim for by destination (email, web, print, upload forms), plus measured sizes by dimension.

Guide·6 min

QuickTime Player exports 4K to 480p video and audio-only M4A. It does not export MP3 or GIF. Here is what it can do, what it cannot, and the free fixes.

Guide·6 min

Why a photo file is so large: pixel count, JPEG quality, image detail and format decide it. Measured sizes on one test image, with how to shrink it.

Guide·6 min

Mac screenshots are big because Retina doubles width and height and PNG is lossless. See measured sizes and four ways to shrink them for free.

Guide·6 min

Premiere Pro exports get huge from a high-bitrate preset, CBR or a ProRes format. The Export settings to change, with measured size examples.

Guide·7 min

How to compress a folder on a Mac, and why zipping photos and video barely shrinks them. Our measured zip results, plus what actually makes images smaller.

Guide·6 min