Introduction to Compression

What is compression? Why do I need to compress files?

While you may have purchased or downloaded StuffIt to help you expand compressed and encoded files, StuffIt is also a powerful compression tool that allows you to do many useful tasks:

• Compress files so that they transfer more quickly over the Internet.

• Make Backup archives that contain copies of all your important documents.

• Compress files so that you can free up space on your hard drive, or other storage device.

You can use StuffIt Deluxe to compress single files, or you can use StuffIt Deluxe to compress many files together. When you use StuffIt to compress many files at the same time, the result is a single file called an archive that contains all the items you compress. You can choose to either Expand the archive to access all the files in the archive, or you can open the archive for browsing and extract just one or two items at a time.

StuffIt: More than just a compression program

In addition to compressing your files to make them smaller, StuffIt Deluxe has a number of other features designed with the Internet in mind.

• Use Encryption to protect your files from prying eyes. When you create an archive with encryption, only someone with the correct password can open and access your documents. Click here for a Tutorial.

• Use Redundancy to repair corrupt or damaged files. Redundancy is like an insurance policy for your files,. When you create a StuffIt X archive with redundancy, StuffIt can use the extra information that is added to repair and replace lost or damaged files. Click here for a Tutorial.

• Use Compress and Mail to compress files and add them to a new email message in one easy step. Click here for a Tutorial.

• Use StuffIt Wizards to compress and upload your files to an FTP server. Click here for a Tutorial.

You can read the tutorial topics for each of the above items to get straight into the application, or read the rest of the "Getting Started" topic for a more detailed overview of how to use the StuffIt application.

Next: Using Drag and Drop

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