Overview
Compressify started as a way to solve a small, recurring annoyance from my own coursework: PDFs that were too large to email or upload, with no quick way to shrink them without uploading a file to some unknown third-party server.
Problem
Most free PDF compression tools online require uploading the file to a remote server — which is slow, and uncomfortable for anything containing personal or academic information. There was no lightweight, local-first option that lived where people already were: their browser.
Solution
I built a Firefox extension that compresses PDFs directly in the browser through a minimal interface — drop a file in, choose a compression level, and download the result. No server round-trip, no account, no tracking.
Challenges
Working within the constraints of the WebExtensions API — particularly around file handling and background script permissions — meant rethinking a few approaches that would have been trivial in a normal web app.
Lessons Learned
Shipping something to a public add-on store, with Mozilla's review process and real (if small) user feedback, taught me a lot more about finishing and polishing a product than any personal project I'd kept on my own machine.
Tech Stack
Frontend
- React
- HTML
- CSS
Extension APIs
- WebExtensions API
- JavaScript