Adobe Ascii85 (base85) encode & decode with z shortcut and <~ ~> delimiters. Ascii85 Encoder / Decoder is a free online tool from the ToolsRift Encoders & Decoders collection. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing to install, no signup, and your data never leaves your device.
Choose Encode or Decode and paste your text. Encoding produces 5 Ascii85 characters per 4 bytes; use the delimiters option to wrap output in <~ ~> as PostScript/PDF expect.
Ascii85 packs 4 bytes into 5 characters (~25% overhead) versus Base64's 3-into-4 (~33%), so it is more compact. It uses 85 printable ASCII characters starting at '!'.
A group of four zero bytes is written as a single 'z' instead of five '!' characters, saving space — a standard Adobe optimisation.
They delimit an Ascii85 stream in PostScript and PDF. Enable the delimiters option to include them; the decoder strips them automatically.