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_Ingrid_Exner_
Participating Frequently
July 21, 2008
Question

Saving as smaller PDF

  • July 21, 2008
  • 5 replies
  • 1805 views
I am using Adobe Technical Communication Suite ( with Framemaker)and trying to create a PDF of a book of Framemaker documents. Note that from within the Book, I am just going up to the file menu and clicking Save book as PDF (I have also just tried Save as PDF. I am able to save the book as a PDF file but, the file is larger than desired. When I save it as standard, the book is still returned as a large PDF (21.5 MB) and if I try to save it as the smallest file possible, it returns the PDF as 4.0 MB but, I lose a lot in terms of clarity of the image. Can you automatically create a PDF that is slightly larger than 4 MB but small than 21.5 MB (which is what I get when I save it as a standard). My document is only 150 pages but, I do have a lot of jpegs (60) and these are in colour.

Thanks,

Ingrid
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    5 replies

    T
    Tigdave
    Inspiring
    August 11, 2008
    This suggestion probably doesn't apply to your document, (which appears to be large because of the graphics it contains and the settings used to handle those graphics), but you could try it anyway.
    If you have a large text-intensive document (hundreds or thousands of pages) with only one text flow then you can significantly reduce the size of the PDF file as follows. In the File > Print pop-up, go into the PDF Setup - Bookmarks page and turn off the Articles option.
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    _Ingrid_Exner_Author
    Participating Frequently
    July 21, 2008
    Hi Art,

    Thanks for this. All my documents in my book are already optimized. Kenneth suggested that I distill my book fill. I am using an old book. Do you know where I can obtain the Adobe PostScript Driver. I tried to go to www.adobe.com/prodindex/printerdrivers/main.html but, I could not access anything. Do you know where I can download prionter drivers to do post script?

    Thanks,

    Ingrid
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    _Kenneth_Benson_
    Participating Frequently
    July 21, 2008
    It shouldn't be that hard. Don't you have a printer called "Adobe PDF"?
    Printing to Adobe PDF *is* distilling. Redirect it to a file and you can
    distill the same postscript file as many times as you want.

    BTW, Art is suggesting you optimize your PDF, not your source files.
    Open the PDF in Acrobat and choose File > Reduce File Size.

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
    A
    Art Campbell
    Inspiring
    July 21, 2008
    If you mean the graphics are fuzzy, turn off or reduce the amount of compression that's applied to them. For printing, I usually turn it all the way off.

    Also, if you have the full version of Acrobat, Optimize PDF is the easiest/quickest way to do this.

    What environment or user need are you trying to meet by squeezing the file down to a tiny size?

    Art
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    _Ingrid_Exner_Author
    Participating Frequently
    July 21, 2008
    Thanks Mike ET AL.,

    I am in the settings of the PDF. I am selecting various pre-set options from the PDF Job Option drop down but, " smallest file size" seems to be the pre-set that gives me the smallest size but my graphics aren't clear. Another respondent said that I can make further changes but, I do not know how other than changing the pre-set option or changing the page size of changing the zoom quality. I want my PDF to be FULL PAGE (100%) so, zooming out is not an option. I would like to also keep the paper size the same. Am I missing something other than the pre-sets? Has someone found a pre-set which makes a smaller PDF than 4.) MB por makes it clearer at that size?

    Thanks,

    Ingrid
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    _Kenneth_Benson_
    Participating Frequently
    July 21, 2008
    What you're calling presets are job options files. The presets that are
    available to you are the ones that come with Distiller and the ones that
    you've made (if you've made any). If you haven't made any, it's time to
    start Distiller, choose your favorite job options file, and start making
    some changes. When you're done, save it under a new name and it should
    be available to you in the Save As PDF dialog.

    In general, lower resolution = smaller file and higher resolution =
    bigger file, so you're going to have to find a compromise between
    quality and size.

    Better yet, print to a PS file and distill that, as many times as you
    want, with as many different settings as you like. You can even play
    around with the Distiller settings and not save them until you find the
    one that works the best.

    --
    Kenneth Benson
    Pegasus Type, Inc.
    www.pegtype.com
    MichaelKazlow
    MichaelKazlow
    Legend
    July 21, 2008
    Ingrid,

    You need to play with Distiller's Joboption settings. It gives you very
    good control of file size, but you need to determine what play off of
    size vs visual clarity you find acceptable.

    Mike
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