I've been writing screen savers in applesoft and noticed that the same program will have a different file size when saving to 5.25 disks depending on the other files on the disk. Does anyone remember why and/or if there are tools available to maximize file storage on disk?
I am assuming you are using Apple DOS 3.3 ? If remember this... The number of sectors in the CATALOG (Volume Table Of Contents) can get out of sync with the actual number of sectors that a file uses. I think that if you SAVE a big file, and then SAVE a smaller file with the same name, it may not correctly update the sector count in the VTOC with the smaller value. I remember using a utility that would update the VTOC with the correct sector counts. Of course, I don't remember the name of the utility but it was on a disk with a bunch of disk copying tools. You might try to DELETE the file, and then SAVE again and see if a newly created file gets saved with the correct sector count.
I'm using DOS 3.3. I should try ProDOS. You've jogged my memory, thanks. When starting with a blank disk and then copying each program to the new disk it will optimize space in effect. I think it's when you delete programs the map becomes unlinear and less optimized.