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Participant
November 18, 2019
Question

Can't Reduce File Size in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC - Program Crashes

  • November 18, 2019
  • 6 replies
  • 23064 views

I use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and I used to be able to reduce the file size of the PDF two different ways. One way was to optimize the PDF, the other was just to save as a reduced file size. Both stopped working a few days ago. My Adobe crashes and forces close every time I try either way now. 

I found a setting that said "Always reduce file size when saving if larger than 10MB" so I checked the box and tried a few files; worked awesome. Thought I solved my problem. But a few documents later, I'm right back to square one. When I attempt to save the document, it crashes and forces close. The error message I get just says "Adobe Acrobat has stopped working." The only option is to close the program. 

I've worked with tech support within my company who tried reinstalling and reinstalling the program, checking for updates, etc. Nothing has solved the problem. It is very frustrating because I have to send these documents via email, and there is a 10MB limit on some of the emails I have to send them to. I have a Windows 10 OS. 
Has this been an issue for anyone else? How do I fix this? 

This topic has been closed for replies.

6 replies

Vizzie
Inspiring
March 4, 2024

Yes, I had to get Acrobat Pro ---Adobe charges are now so high... If you're willing to go thru the hoops, try my go around.  It's annoying, but will reduce much more in several steps...

Participating Frequently
February 9, 2021

Hi there,

 

Wanted to add to this thread as I am having the same problem. Actually many designers in my department are. We have not found a solution around this. We noticed that this first started when all the Adobe products got updated a few months ago with new releases. Since that time we have tried everything everyone in this thread has attempted. 

 

We also rely primarily on handing off proofs / mocks (lower-res) in PDF format to get signed off on from managers through Adobe Acrobat. Where in the past I could compress a 100MB file size down to 5MB and email it to a CD, now it's impossible and creates a block in workflow. The team is trying to find a solution....online proofing and just getting rid of Acrobat altogether.

 

If there is an update to this issue, please advise. Otherwise my team is dumping Acrobat due to workflow efficiencies.

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
February 10, 2021

Hi there

 

++ Adding to the suggestion by MichaelKazlow

 

A new version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC is now available version 21.001.20135. Please try to update the application from the Help menu > Check for Updates and reboot the computer once and check.

 

For more information about the new version please check the help page https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/index.html

 

Regards

Amal

Vizzie
Inspiring
March 4, 2024

Hi there,

 

What happens when you try to reduce the page size? Do you get any error message, If yes, please share the screenshot of the same for more clarity. Make sure you have the recent version 23.08.20555 installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

 

Also, try to repair the installation from the help menu (Win Only) and see if that works.

 

~Amal


Here is what I've tried and the results. I did update.
1. Acrobat cannot reduced jpgs to pdfs very much: jpg file = 73MB, pdf file
= 57 MG see warning, tho I still can do it
2. When I convert jpgs to individual pdf files to combine into one file=
3.5 MB

3. If I take the combined pdfs/single file and Save as Other-reduced file,
it reduces to 2.9
*4. Reducing individual pdf files to reduced files is very good: 3.2 MB to
179 KB*

*THAT is a lot of work to reduce multiple pages. Any work around to reduce
???????*
*Dale*
Participant
December 3, 2020

I have the exact same issue. nothing has changed in my setup. Enabling fast web view also causes crashes. windows 10 everything up to date.

BarlaeDC
Community Expert
Community Expert
December 4, 2020

Hi,

 

Would you be able to use the Document Cloud to share the document, therefore allowing bigger documents? (just a thought)

 

Is anyone able to create a document that they can share that shows the problem?

 

Malcolm

jakubgal
Participating Frequently
November 4, 2020

This issue has still not been resolved by Adobe Team . Reducing PDF crashes my fully updated PC. 11/04./20

Raw-we
Participant
November 19, 2019

Does it crash only when you try to reduce the file size or any other operation as well?

Try printing the PDF to Adobe PDF printer. It flattens the document thereby reducing the size. You can use this as an interim method to reduce file size of PDFs.

Crash logs will be helpful to debug the issue if you still face problems after following Michael's advice above.

 

Thanks,

Ravi

Participant
November 19, 2019

I tried printing to Adobe PDF like you recommended and it made the file size larger. So that's not a good solution. 

 

But yes, it only crashes when I attempt to reduce the file size as I stated above. 

MichaelKazlow
Legend
November 19, 2019

Now we have to try some other techniques. Crashes are usually driven by driver and/or hardward issues. Try to see if you can turn off any hardware acceleration, espcially for your display.

 

You can also try to create a new user and see if the software crashes on a new user.

MichaelKazlow
Legend
November 19, 2019

You can use the Acrobat Cleaner Tool before reinstalling to get rid of anything corrupt from a previous install. 


Have you tried to use the advanced optimization settings to get the best size reduction for the quality you want to maintain?

MichaelKazlow
Legend
November 19, 2019