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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 9df7d269f7d5f6d81eb0784d8264a55d5f58d117037278302bc4b2105739f3a3
Apple Silicon (.dmg) 743f17405fe1614f592608d106761002c3e9ad51f98fce592b23c20033a7449f
Intel (.dmg) 42acb429164b0d498c84b0679d5485768bf4377b27a57cfe038408304059ff6b

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) 955b7f86c5875082dd66a95f87b97a0ac1e3373be67806b4fadc594d8b60f777
MSI package (.msi) 605435125295aeb1e4c1d7eb9b41928ac8b62a379d5f57045faec91d372b057a
Snapdragon (ARM64)
Setup installer (.exe) 8625676b6dd36db1e06372f2c8353f9cf47b2c7dfeee232e8b9242b6ad67dd37
MSI package (.msi) bcd09e4beda06e683eca6681a684715b05a14f496cbd857a374185ef9069e5e3

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.