Dozens of archivers are popular on the Internet today, and in the description of each program you can find that its algorithm is the very best... I decided to take several popular archivers on the Internet, namely: WinRar, WinUha, WinZip, KGB archiver, 7Z and test them in “combat” » conditions.
A little preface... The comparison may not be very objective. Comparison of ahivators was carried out on the most common home computer, the average for today. Besides, they didn’t take it various types data: the compression comparison was carried out on a regular Word document, of which many who study or work with them can accumulate a huge amount. Well, it is logical that it is advisable to pack information that you rarely use into an archive and sometimes extract it. And it’s much easier to transfer such a file: it will be copied to a flash drive faster than a bunch of small files, and it will be downloaded faster over the Internet...
Compression comparison table
For a small experiment, a relatively large RTF file was taken - about 3.5 MB and compressed with different archivers. We are not taking into account the operating time yet, the features of the programs will be discussed further, but now we will just look at the compression level.
| Program | Format | Compression ratio | Size, kbytes | How many times has the file size decreased? ? |
| KGB Archiver 2 | .kgb | maximum | 141411 | 22,99 |
| WinRar | .rar | maximum | 190546 | 17,07 |
| WinUha | .uha | maximum | 214294 | 15,17 |
| 7Z | .7z | maximum | 218511 | 14,88 |
| WinZip | .zip | maximum | 299108 | 10,87 |
| Source file | .rtf | No compression | 3252107 | 1 |
As can be seen from the small plate, the highest compression ratio is achieved with the KGB Archiver 2 program - the original file size has decreased by 23 times! Those. if you have several gigabytes of various documentation on your hard drive that you don’t use and want to delete (but you can’t shake the feeling that it might come in handy) - wouldn’t it be easier to compress it with such a program and write it to disk...
But about all the pitfalls in order...
KGB Archiver 2
In general, it’s not a bad archiver; according to the developers, their compression algorithm is one of the “strongest”. It's hard to disagree...
Only the compression speed leaves much to be desired. For example, the file in the example (about 3 MB) was compressed by the program for about 3 minutes! It is not difficult to estimate that she will compress one CD disc for half a day, if not more.
But this is not particularly surprising. Unpacking a file takes as long as compression! Those. If you spent half a day compressing some of your documents, then you will spend the same amount of time getting them out of the archive.
Result: the program can be used for small amounts of information, especially when the minimum size of the source file is important (for example, the file needs to be placed on a floppy disk or on a small flash drive). But again, guess the size in advance compressed file You can’t, and perhaps you’ll waste your time on compression...
WinRar
The famous program in the post-Soviet space is installed on most computers. Probably, if she had not shown such good results, she would not have had so many fans. Below is a screenshot showing the compression settings, nothing special, except that the compression level was set to maximum.
Surprisingly, WinRar compressed the file in a few seconds, and the file size was reduced by 17 times. a very worthy result, considering that the time spent on processing is negligible. And the time to unpack the file is even less!
Result: An excellent program that shows some of the best results. During the compression settings, you can also specify the maximum archive size and the program will split it into several parts. This is very convenient for transferring a file from one computer to another on a flash drive or CD/DVD disk, when you cannot write the entire file to...
WinUha
A relatively young archivist. It cannot be called super-popular, but many users who often work with archives have an interest in it. And it’s no coincidence, because according to the developers of the archiver, its compression algorithm is stronger than that of RAR and 7Z.
In our small experiment, I would not say that this is so. It is possible that on some other data it will show much better results...
By the way, when installing, select English language, in Russian - the program displays “kryakozabry”.
Result: a good program with an interesting compression algorithm. The time to process and create an archive is, of course, longer than WinRar, but for some types of data you can get a slightly higher compression ratio. Although, personally, I would not place much emphasis on this...
7Z
A very popular free archiver. Many argue that the compression ratio in 7z is even better than in WinRar. It is quite possible, but when compressed with the “Ultra” level on most files, it loses to WinRar.
Result: a good alternative to WinRar. Quite comparable compression ratio, good support Russian language, convenient integration into the Explorer context menu.
WinZip
Legendary, one of the most popular archivers ever. On the Internet, probably the most common archives are “ZIP”. And it’s no coincidence - despite the not-so-high compression ratio, the speed of operation is simply amazing. For example, Windows opens such archives as regular folders!
In addition, we should not forget that this archiver and compression format is much older than its newfangled competitors. And not everyone has them now powerful computers, which will allow you to quickly work with new formats. And the Zip format is supported by all modern archivers!
Let's say you need to send a file over the network or transfer it to removable media. It’s one thing if it’s just a Word file of 10-15 kb in size, and another is a selection of their 200 photographs weighing 3.5 gigabytes. With such files you need to carry out additional manipulations. For example, break them into parts or archive them. The better you compress the files (without losing quality, of course), the better. For such purposes it is customary to use special programs, which are called archivers.
How to compress a large file: detailed instructions
Our detailed guide will help you significantly reduce one or more files, compress them to the desired size. So let's get started.
Selecting a program and installing it
If your computer does not yet have an archiver in its arsenal of applications, we recommend installing it for full functionality. The WinRAR application is very popular among Russian-speaking users. It's shareware, but even after trial period you will be able to continue using it. In Europe and the USA, Internet users still prefer WinZIP. There is also a “golden mean” 7-ZIP, which competes with these two archivers.
You can also download other archiver programs on our website. All of them are carefully selected and sorted, so you immediately receive a useful, high-quality product.
Starting archiving: disassembly using the WinRAR program as an example
Select one or more files to compress. After installation, the program itself will appear in Windows Explorer. Therefore, there is no need to launch the application and try to find the content you need. Select it, right-click and select one of the items related to archiving.
For example, you have one file and it's called BigShark. Then click on the line “Add BigShark to archive”. The archiver will begin compressing the file using the default settings. The packed archive will appear in the same folder.
Setting details
But if you click “Add to archive” in the menu, a window with settings will open. And here you can already dream up! You can set the compression level in the “General” tab (the “Compression method” heading). The program will offer you one of six options. The better the files are compressed, the longer it will take to archive. To start the procedure, simply click “OK”.
“Add to archive” function
It is also possible to set the name of the future archive, select the format and compression method. Some people choose RAR, others Zip. The right to choose remains yours. In the “Compression Method” menu, select “Maximum”.
How do I set my own compression options? Find the Advanced/Compression Options/NTFS Options tab. A dialog box will open in which you can fine-tune the compression settings.
Compression options Separating the archive - how to compress the file correctly
Some archivers that compress content can split the archive into 3 or more parts. This will be useful for those who work with very large files. For example, the videos themselves are already compressed to the maximum. Therefore, even the most powerful archiver will not bring you the expected result.
But you can create multi-volume archive, that is, split one large file into separate components. After sending them over the network or copying them to removable media, you can reassemble the content into the original file.
Select "Add to Archive/Split into Volumes". You will also need to specify the maximum partition for each archive. For example, if you install 500 MB, and the file weighs 2200 MB, you will get 5 parts: four 500 MB and one 200 MB. Of course, due to compression, the volume will be less.
How to split a large archive into parts Compressing a large video with a converter
Try converting the video to another format. For example, using convenient program"VideoMASTER". Then everything is simple: select “Add/Formats” in the working window. For mobile device Both mp 4 and 3gp are suitable. All that remains is to decide on the destination folder and compress the file with the “Convert” command. The result is a much smaller video.
How to compress video using the VideoMaster program (video)
When the question arises how to compress a file large size, in reality everything turns out to be much simpler. You just need a suitable program, a little free time and basic setup. We hope that reading the article helped you cope with maximum compression and achieve the desired result.
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Often in everyday life there is a need to compress files for the convenience of storing them, recording them on media and quickly exchanging them via social media, email , file hosting services and other services in global network Internet. However, not all files are equally compressible. Text format files (txt, doc) are best compressed. Archive files (rar, zip, 7z, lha, tar, gz, jar, etc.), video (avi, mpeg, wmv, flv), music (mp3, wma, aac) and images (jpeg, jpg, gif , png) are slightly reduced in size since they are initially compressed files. This also includes files Microsoft Office with extensions docx, xlsx.
Specialized archiver programs, the most famous of which are WinRAR, 7zip and WinZip, compress (reduce the size) of files. We’ll talk about how to compress a file as much as possible in the WinRAR archiver.
To start packing files into an archive, your computer must have WinRAR archiver installed. To start the compression (archiving) operation, you need to select the files that you are going to compress. Then, by right-clicking on the selected area, call up the context menu, in which we select the line “Add to archive...”.
In the “Archive name and parameters” working window that appears, on the “General” tab, set the name of the future archive, and also select the format and compression method. For formats, we recommend choosing the publicly available ZIP format, since some operating systems have difficulty reading the RAR format. In the “Compression method” drop-down menu, select “Maximum” accordingly. Click OK.
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To set your own compression settings for the RAR format, go to the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Compression Settings” button in the “NTFS Settings” group. In the new dialog box, you can select specific parameters for text, audio and full-color graphics compression, select the main compression algorithm, etc.
For adding a new file to an existing archive with maximum compression, you need to open this archive and select the line “Add file to archive” in the “Commands” menu; Even easier, you can drag the desired file into the program window. This will automatically open a new Archive Name and Options dialog box. All you have to do is set the compression method to “Maximum” for the new file and click on the OK button.
I think reading the article did you good. Now questions about maximum compression in WinRar are a thing of the past, and if they arise or are forgotten, then our website will help in restoring computer knowledge!
And now you need to pack the files into an archive. Let's look at how to do this.
Let's say we have a folder with files that we need to archive.
Click on the screenshot to enlarge it.
The easiest way to make an archive from a folder is to right-click on it and select “Add “NatGeo.rar” to archive.” That is, select the second item in the context menu. In your case, this item will contain the name of your folder.
In the same way you can add to the archive and separate file. That is, click on the file and create an archive from it. In this case, before creating the archive, it will be placed in a folder with the same name.
Let's consider another option. This time we will select the first item of the context menu “Add to archive...”. The archive settings window will open in front of us.
Here we can choose the archive format, compression method, dictionary size, and also split a large archive into interdependent parts (to transfer them on different media). In addition, we can set a password for the archive. All this is located on the “General” tab. Other tabs have more in-depth settings that advanced users can use.
Archive creation process.
The other two points are responsible for the same actions, but after creating the archive they send it via email. To send by email, you must have an email client installed on your system.
PDF files with lots of graphic elements look nice, but sending them by email is a complete pain due to the large size of such documents. There is no need to wait long for the file to be attached to the letter, because you can reduce its size with virtually no loss of quality. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to do this - choose whichever you want.
It is worth noting, however, that half of the methods listed below are only possible using Acrobat DC from Adobe installed on your PC. This is a paid product, but the 30-day trial version is completely free. It is available on the official Adobe Systems website.
Using CutePDF or another PDF converter
You can reduce the size of a PDF file using one of the converters, for example, CutePDF. It allows you to convert files from any printable format to PDF, as well as change the document size, increasing or decreasing the quality of images and text. When you install this product, a virtual printer is created on the system, which, instead of printing documents, converts them to PDF format.
1. Download CutePDF from the official website (free) and install. Don’t forget to install the converter along with it, otherwise nothing will happen after clicking the “Print” button.
2. Open the file in a program that supports its format and has the ability to print documents. If it's a PDF file, you can open it in Adobe Reader; and if the file is in doc or docx format, it will do Microsoft Word. Click on the “File” menu item and select “Print”.
3. When the printing settings window opens, select CutePDF Writer from the list of printers.
4. Click on the “Printer Properties” button, in the window that opens, click on the “Advanced” button and select the content display quality. To compress the file to the desired size, select a quality lower than the original quality.
5. Click the “Print” button and save the file to the desired location. Only PDF is available for saving, regardless of what format the document was originally in.
Using online tools
If you don’t want to download and install anything, then you can compress the PDF file online. Compressing and converting documents online is fast and convenient.
1. Find a suitable tool on the Internet, such as Smallpdf. Unlike other similar online tools, here the user is not limited in the size and number of documents he can upload.
2. After visiting the website, upload the required document. This can be done by clicking on the label and selecting the file using Explorer, or by dragging the file with the left mouse button and dropping it in the desired area. You can also add a document from Dropbox or from " Google Drive A".
3. When the process is complete, click on the “You can save the file” button and select a location on your PC for it. To upload a compressed document to Google Drive or Dropbox, click the corresponding icon on the right side of the button.
In addition to Smallpdf, there are many other online compressors on the Internet: Compress PDF, Online2pdf, PDFzipper and others. Some allow you to upload files up to 50 MB in size, others - up to 100 MB, others have no restrictions at all, but they perform their work at approximately the same level.
In Adobe Acrobat
Compress PDF file you can do it in Adobe Acrobat DC, but not in free adobe Reader.
1. Having opened the document in Acrobat, click on the “File” menu item, then select “Save as another” and click on the line “Reduced PDF file”.
2. Click in the drop-down list on the version of the program with which your document should be compatible. Having chosen the most new version, you can compress the file as much as possible, but there is a risk that it will become inaccessible in previous versions"Acrobat".
3. Click on the “Ok” button, wait for the compression process to complete and save the compressed document to the desired location.
Another PDF compression method in Adobe Acrobat DC
If you have Adobe Acrobat installed and need to compress a document located on your PC, it is much more advisable to use the previous way. The same method can be used when the desired file is uploaded, say, to Google Drive, and you need to download it, simultaneously reducing its size.
1. Log into Google Drive from your account, double-click the PDF file you want to compress, and click the printer icon to open the print screen.
2. In the window that opens, click on the drop-down list and select the Adobe PDF line.
3. By clicking on the “Properties” button, you will open another window where you need to select the “Paper and Print Quality” tab, and then click on the “Advanced” button at the bottom of the window.
4. In the drop-down list (see screenshot below), select the desired document quality, at the bottom of the window click on the “Ok” button, then in the next two windows also click on “Ok”.
5. Save the reduced file on your PC.
Using Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word
The essence of this method of compressing PDF documents is that you first convert the file from one format to another, and then convert it back.
1. Open a PDF document using Adobe Acrobat, go to the "File" menu and select "Save As".
2. Click the “Select another folder” button, then select the file type “ Word Document(*.docx)" and save location. Click on "Save".
3. Having opened the document in Microsoft Word, click on the “File” item and select the “Save as Adobe PDF” sub-item.
Using PDF Optimizer
This method of reducing the size of PDF files also requires the use of software from Adobe Systems.
1. Open the document you want to reduce using Adobe Acrobat. Next, go to the “File” menu, click on the “Save as Other” line and select “Optimized PDF File” to launch the PDF document optimizer.
2. In the “PDF Optimization” window that opens, click on the “Estimate space usage” button to understand which elements take up how much space in the file (in bytes and percentage).
3. Having assessed what can be reduced and what does not make sense to compress, close the window by clicking on the “Ok” button and set the necessary compression parameters. To do this, in the left part of the window, left-click on one or another item, and in the right part, change the parameters.
4. You can delete images, change them from color to black and white, compress them, change resolution, change built-in fonts, etc. Having “played enough” with the parameters, click on the “Ok” button and save the optimized file to the desired directory.
A way to compress PDF files on Mac OS X
PDF documents generated by the operating room Mac system OS X is noticeably larger in size than files with the same content created using Adobe Acrobat. If you are a Mac OS X user and want to reduce the size of the PDF file you create, do the following:
- Open the TextEdit application, then click on “File” in the program menu, and then select “Print”.
- In the lower left corner of the window that opens, you will see a button called PDF. Click on it, and then on the line “Compress PDF” in the drop-down list. The result is a more compact PDF file.
Archiving a file
To ensure that the document takes up less space on your computer, you can archive it using one of the archivers, for example, 7Zip or WinRAR. Both programs are quite popular, but the first is distributed free of charge, and the cost of using the second is over a limited period. trial version, you'll have to pay.
To compress a document using the 7Zip archiver, right-click on the file, then with the left mouse button, first click on the 7Zip line, and then on the inscription “Add to “file_name”. Then the archive will be created automatically.
If you want to set certain parameters before archiving, select the “Add to archive” line. Then a window like the one in the screenshot below will open.
By using an archiver, you can significantly reduce the size of a document, as well as create an archive consisting of several files, compressed and combined with each other. This will make it much easier to store and transmit them via email. Just before sending an archived PDF file, make sure that the recipient also has an archiver installed, otherwise he will not be able to open the archive.
Note: Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader are not the same thing. Reader is free, but its range of functions for editing PDF files is extremely limited, so you can only reduce the size of documents in Acrobat. However, Adobe Acrobat is a paid program. And if you don’t have it and don’t want to buy it, use other options for compressing PDF documents that are not associated with it.
