Why are pdf files so huge?

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2 total messages Started by Daniel_Truesdale Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:15

#387

Author: Daniel_Truesdale
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:15

8 lines
1016 bytes

Question: Should a 27-30 page pdf weigh upwards of 30M?
I am currently working with a designer that ships me these outrageous pdf files of no more than 30 pages. The majority of the pages are black/white.
I believe she is working in InDesign, but may be still using Quark.

Is this right? I'm feeling these files could be alot less in weight.
Any advice and/or guidance is appreciated!

Thanks, everyone

Re: Why are pdf files so huge?

#385

Author: Dov Isaacs
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:38

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Depending upon the content of the original document, 30 megabytes for a 27 to 30 page PDF file may or may not be "outrageous." In fact, a one page InDesign (or for that matter QuarkXPress) document may well be graphically-complex enough to yield a 30 megabyte PDF file, possibly due to large, high resolution images or even very complex vector graphics.

However, for the 27 to 30 page scenario, 30 megabytes is not that much if each page has a large, reasonably-compressed JPEG image at 300 dpi (as one would produce PDF for print). Check what joboptions were used to create the PDF file. If no compression of images is being used or images are being kept at unreasonably-high resolutions, you may be able to achieve reasonable file size reduction.

Acrobat does provide an optimizer feature which can help fix such compession and resolution issues "after the fact."

- Dov

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