SquashPicture

A lightweight image compression tool built with Avalonia UI. SquashPicture optimizes PNG and JPEG images using lossless compression techniques while preserving image quality.

Features

• Lossless Compression - Reduces file size without losing image quality
• PNG Optimization - Uses quantization and optimal compression settings
• JPEG Optimization - Strips metadata and optimizes Huffman tables
• Batch Processing - Compress multiple images simultaneously
• System Tray - Minimizes to system tray instead of closing
• Dark Mode - Modern dark theme UI
• Cross-Platform - Runs on Linux (Windows and macOS support planned)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Alt+A	Add and compress images
Alt+R	Recompress all images
Alt+C	Clear file list
Ctrl+Q	Close the Window

Installation

Prerequisites

• .NET 10.0 SDK or later

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/amuza2/SquashPicture.git
cd SquashPicture

# Build the project
dotnet build

# Run the application
dotnet run --project src/SquashPicture

Create Self-Contained Build

# Linux x64
dotnet publish src/SquashPicture -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained -o publish/linux-x64

Usage

1. Add Images - Click "Add" to select images via file dialog
2. View Results - The table shows original size, new size, and compression ratio
3. Recompress - Click "Recompress" to re-process all images in the list
4. Clear - Click "Clear" to remove all images from the list

Supported Formats

• PNG (.png)
• JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)

How It Works

PNG Compression

• Quantizes colors to 256-color palette with Floyd-Steinberg dithering
• Applies maximum compression level (9)
• Uses optimal compression filter and strategy
• Performs lossless optimization pass

JPEG Compression

• Strips all metadata (EXIF, ICC profiles, etc.)
• Optimizes Huffman tables
• Converts to progressive JPEG
• Performs lossless optimization

Backup Strategy

• Creates temporary backup before compression
• Restores original if compressed file is larger
• Ensures no data loss on failure

Project Structure

SquashPicture/
├── src/
│   └── SquashPicture/
│       ├── Assets/           # Icons and resources
│       ├── Compressors/      # PNG and JPEG compressors
│       ├── Converters/       # Value converters for UI
│       ├── Models/           # Data models
│       ├── Services/         # Business logic services
│       ├── Styles/           # XAML style resources
│       ├── ViewModels/       # MVVM view models
│       └── Views/            # XAML views
└── tests/
    └── SquashPicture.Tests/  # Unit tests

Configuration

Settings are stored in:

• Linux: ~/.config/SquashPicture/settings.json

Settings include:

• Window position and size
• Last used directory for file dialogs

Dependencies

• Avalonia UI - Cross-platform UI framework
• Magick.NET - ImageMagick wrapper for .NET
• SixLabors.ImageSharp - Image processing library
• CommunityToolkit.Mvvm - MVVM toolkit

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome!

1. Open an issue first to discuss the proposed change
2. Fork the repository
3. Create a branch for your feature or fix
4. Submit a Pull Request referencing the issue

Acknowledgments

• Icon by Icons8

Made with ❤️ for the Linux community