A typical scenario I get involved with as a webinar producer/coordinator is to collect PowerPoint files from one or more presenters. I combine them into a single large file and make cosmetic changes. Then I send out the new file for approval and changes. I upload it into our web conferencing product. I make a PDF version of the slides for distribution and perhaps upload that for downloading by the attendees.
Then someone makes a last minute change. More emailing, uploading, and downloading. File sizes often run into many megabytes – especially if the presentation uses plenty of graphics (as it should).
Reducing the sizes of those files saves valuable time and makes everyone’s life a little more convenient. Microsoft and Adobe both offer ways to compress images in their document files, but it involves several manual steps, and the results can be unpredictable. Sometimes the compression is minimal, and sometimes the graphics come out so grainy and visually compromised that you would never want to use them.
For several years I have been making use of a software product called FILEminimizer, made by a Swiss company named balesio AG. Actually FILEminimizer comes in several different versions, targeted at different types of files. They recently came out with a new version of their FILEminimizer Suite, which added PDF compression to the compression previously available for Microsoft Office and graphic files. I like it so much that I thought it deserved a blog post. (NON-DISCLAIMER: I have no business relationship or financial interest in balesio or its products. I am nothing more than an individual user. I received no incentive for writing this and balesio has no idea I am doing so.)
FILEminimizer works the way it should. It’s completely intuitive. You open the product on your desktop and drag files into the “to be optimized” list. A slider bar lets you decide how much compression to apply, with common-sense choices such as “Visually Lossless” (for upload to your webinar program) or “Visually Lossy” (for quick review purposes). You can also configure the compression with different levels for different file types. Hit the “Optimize Files” button and compression is a quick process.
(Click to expand image)
Compressed files are saved under a new name (with your choice of suffix to indicate the compressed version), so you always have your source file intact. The compressed files are in the same native format as the original (a PPTX source makes a PPTX output), so your recipients don’t need to unzip or use any special software to view them. The software saves the new versions in your choice of the source directory or a special output directory. And it shows you the old and new file sizes along with the percentage reduction.
I have had a couple of instances where I needed to contact balesio support. They were quick to respond, made me believe they cared about my situation, and took care of the things that needed to be taken care of. I have been very satisfied as a customer.
The price (US $108 for an individual license) may seem a bit steep for something you can do for free in other ways. But the speed, convenience, quality, and choice of compression levels is absolutely worth it for me. If you work with these kinds of files a lot, it may be worth it for you too. I would certainly recommend trying their 30-day free trial to test it out.
Only two things currently annoy me about the product. First, you have to pay extra for updates, upgrades, and technical support. Second, the Windows context menu feature does not work correctly on Windows 64-bit operating systems. If you right click a file and choose “Open with FILEminimizer” it opens the FILEminimizer window, but does not put the selected file into the optimization list. You have to drag it manually. I wouldn’t be happy to see that small bug get fixed and know that I have to pay another premium of 20% of the purchase price to make the product function the way it is supposed to.
