1
Welcome
Choose your Language if you’d like to use Compresto in something other than your Mac’s language, then press Get Started to begin the setup process.Changing the language asks you to restart Compresto. See App language.
2
Installation
Compresto downloads and sets up its compression tools. This takes a few minutes, and you only do it once.A progress indicator shows the installation status. When you see Compression tools are ready., press Continue.
If you see The setup didn’t finish., press Try Again to retry. Make sure you have an active internet connection.
3
License Activation
Paste the license key from your purchase email and press Activate.
Don’t have a license key? Purchase one at compresto.app/pricing
4
Done
You’re all set! Press Start compressing to open the main window.
What Gets Installed
During the installation step, Compresto downloads these components:- FFmpeg - For video and GIF processing. Apple Silicon Macs get a native arm64 build, so Rosetta isn’t needed
- Gifski - For high-quality GIF creation
- pngquant - For PNG optimization
PDF compression also needs Ghostscript, which is set up separately. If you use Homebrew, Compresto installs it for you automatically. Otherwise, see Install Ghostscript.
Troubleshooting
Installation stuck or failed
- Check your internet connection
- Press Try Again to restart installation
- If the issue persists, restart the app
License activation failed
- Verify your license key is correct (format: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX)
- Check that you haven’t exceeded the activation limit
- Ensure you have an active internet connection
Need to redo setup
If you need to go through the setup again:- Quit Compresto
- Delete the app preferences (hold Option while clicking “Compresto” menu > “Reset Preferences”)
- Relaunch Compresto