Large PDF file sizes when exporting...

Hi,



I was wondering if anyone knew why some PDF file sizes are so large when exporting from ID.



I create black and white user manuals with ID CS3. We post these online, so I try to get the file size down as much as possible.

There is only one .psd image in each manual. The content does not have any photographs, just Illustrator .eps diagrams and line drawings. I am trying to figure out why some PDF file sizes are so large.

Also, why the file sizes are so different.



For example, I have one ID document that is 3MB.

Exporting it at the smallest file size, the PDF file comes out at 2MB.

Then I have another ID document that is 10MB.

Exporting to PDF is 2MB (the same size as the smaller ID document)... this one has many more .eps's in it and a lot more pages.

Then I have another one that the ID size is 8MB and the PDF is 6MBwhy is this one so much larger than the 10MB ID document?



Any ideas on why this is happening and/or how I can reduce the file size.

I've tried adjusting the export compression and other settings but that didn't work.

I also tried to reduce them after the fact in Acrobat to see what would happen, but it doesn't reduce it all that much.



Thanks for any help,

Cathy
Large PDF file sizes when exporting...
I wouldn't look too much for a direct correlation between ID filesize

and PDF filesize. There can be a lot of information in the ID file that

doesn't go into the PDF. You can dramatically reduce the size of an ID

file simply by Saving As (and wiping out the Undo information saved there).



Make sure that your drawings are truly drawings. An Illustrator EPS file

can contain bitmaps. Have you tried printing to the Adobe PDF printer

instead of exporting PDF? Exporting is usually recommended, but I

vaguely remember reading that some version (can't remember which one) of

ID exported overly large PDFs.



--

Kenneth Benson

Pegasus Type, Inc.

www.pegtype.com
Large PDF file sizes when exporting...
Hi,



Yes, I've tried using the Adobe PDF printer too, but it only reduced the 2MB file to 1.5MB.



All my .eps's are line drawings created in Illustrator, no bitmaps are placed on the page. No dramtic color, gradients or effects... just simple diagrams and product drawings.



Here's a link to one of my manuals. This file is almost 6MB and takes a moment to open.

http://www.chauvin-arnoux.us/pdfs_aemc/user-manuals/6472_EN.pdf



I've noticed that for some reason it usually has large PDF size when there are a lot of .eps images in the ID file. Though, the sizes of the .eps's are only about 100K to 200K in size and they are linked, not embedded.



I always Save As vs. just saving before I close a document as I am familiar with that reducing Adobe document sizes.



It's just strange though because our marketing department as an 80 page full color catalog that, when exported it is only 5MB. Their ID document uses many very large .tif files. So, I am leaning toward it being an .eps/.ai issue??



Thanks for the response,

Cathy

That PDF has a couple of dozen different font subsets in it, many of which have the same names but are TrueType and Type 1 versions. It might help to run find font and decide if you want to use TT or T1 and replace the other version, and standardize on Helvetica or Arial (I prefer Helvetica) rather than using two nearly identical faces.

%26gt; Though, the sizes of the .eps's are only about 100K to 200K in size and they are linked, not embedded.



But they're embedded in the PDF.



%26gt; It's just strange though because our marketing department as an 80 page full color catalog that, when exported it is only 5MB. Their ID document uses many very large .tif files. So, I am leaning toward it being an .eps/.ai issue??



Issue implies there's something wrong, but I think this is just the way

it's supposed to work.



Line drawings, while usually fairly compact, cannot be lossy compressed.

The marketing department, though, may compress their very large TIFF

files as much as they like (with a corresponding loss of quality). It's

entirely possible to compress bitmaps to a smaller size than the

drawings those bitmaps were made from. You could test this yourself.

Just open a few of your EPS drawings in Photoshop, save as TIFF, place

in ID, and try various downsampling schemes. If you downsample enough,

you'll get the size of the PDF below a PDF that uses the same graphics

as line drawing EPS files. But you may have to downsample them beyond

recognition...



--

Kenneth Benson

Pegasus Type, Inc.

www.pegtype.com

Thanks, I'll take a look at it.

Thanks for the info Ken.

The drawings MAY have excessive points. I've had that problem with Cad

type drawings and others that had been converted to wmf/emf files. Type

converted to outlines doesn't help much either.



Jay