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Getting Started with PulpPDF

Download, install, and compress your first PDF in under a minute. Everything runs locally — your files never leave your machine.

System Requirements

  • macOS: macOS 11+ (Apple Silicon and Intel)
  • Windows: Windows 10+ (Intel, AMD, and Snapdragon)

Installation

macOS

  1. Download the installer (see below)
  2. Open the .dmg file
  3. Drag PulpPDF to your Applications folder
  4. Launch PulpPDF from Applications
Installer SHA-256
Universal (.dmg) — recommended 5dd206a223fdadd04fee1c9a9b57c3e6a43e86a10ec8c367eec73d4fca5ce6f2
Apple Silicon (.dmg) b2c88be39b9acae5f23faa8a8f5203b6387a83807a55e2e99f02b07f3b743550
Intel (.dmg) f146a51c85bf6d044d55d0bd5fa0b820b0439e48fd7ad7a8121203d77c6c9c7d

Windows

  1. Download the installer (see below)
  2. Run the installer and follow the prompts
  3. Launch PulpPDF from the Start Menu
Installer SHA-256
Intel & AMD (x64)
Setup installer (.exe) 5a712f030d80c23781c1bdd40be71b095edcacd08bc6b3e288825971cd29900e
MSI package (.msi) 731d0ad57fd722371cea0c5c6d3c5b2253f5da6792440cdf6621519b973d4a39
Snapdragon (ARM64)
Setup installer (.exe) 24bbab036659f0cea802ee2eb40ab4043063cc6e646fe66d329c78441a968c4a
MSI package (.msi) 8d47d0143c07a924b4ae4cc3c4e4756acaac93d11eb29abd377985c1345cffe1

Launch PulpPDF. No account needed. You're ready to compress.

Windows SmartScreen warning

When you first run PulpPDF on Windows, you may see a SmartScreen warning saying the app is "not commonly downloaded." This is normal for new software — it does not mean the app is unsafe.

PulpPDF is digitally signed, but SmartScreen builds trust based on download volume over time. To proceed:

  1. Click "More info" on the warning dialog.

    Windows SmartScreen dialog — click "More info" to reveal the Run anyway option

  2. Click "Run anyway".

    Windows SmartScreen dialog after expansion — click "Run anyway" to launch PulpPDF

  3. If Windows shows a second "Open File — Security Warning" dialog, click "Run" to confirm.

    Windows Open File security warning — click "Run" to confirm launching PulpPDF

This warning will disappear as more users download and install PulpPDF. Microsoft has confirmed this is expected behavior for new applications building reputation.

Compress Your First PDF

  1. Drop a PDF onto the app window, or click the drop zone to browse.
  2. PulpPDF shows: page count, image count, file size, and OCR status.
  3. Pick a preset — Balanced is the default.
  4. Click "Compress PDF" — choose where to save.
  5. See the result: original size → compressed size with percentage saved.

Presets at a Glance

Preset Best for
None OCR only — no compression
High Quality Print-ready documents
Balanced General purpose (default)
Maximum Email attachments, sharing
Ultra Smallest possible size

See Compression Presets for details.

OCR

Toggle OCR to add searchable text to scanned PDFs. PulpPDF uses native OS text recognition (macOS Vision / Windows OCR). Pages with existing text are skipped automatically.

Bulk Mode

Drop multiple PDFs to enter bulk mode. Pick a preset, choose an output folder, compress all at once.