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DellCentre039134
DellCentre039134
Participating Frequently
September 7, 2017
Question

File size bigger after removing text

  • September 7, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 4719 views

Currently I have a +1300 page ebook PDF file, size 21 MB with an hyperlink on each page. I have deleted all the hyperlinks and saved the file and noticed that the file size got bigger to 38MB. I didn't edit anything else (e.g. adding images, removing other stuff etc.), I just removed the hyperlink, which was a link to some website.

How is it possible that after deleting the hyperlinks the file size got bigger? And is there a way to keep the file size at 21 MB?

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

P
Pulus1
New Participant
December 9, 2020

Bump.

 

I have a pdf of 1.3MB, which after some deletions increased to 13.4MB, then started to behave badly, i.e. deleting whole pages and crashing.

T
Test Screen Name
Brainiac
December 9, 2020

How exactly did you save the file? What app and exact version (not "latest") do you use?

Karl Heinz Kremer
Karl Heinz Kremer
Adobe Expert
September 7, 2017

Yes, any modification to a PDF document will increase it's size - that is as long as you are using the normal "File>Save" operation. The reason for this is that Acrobat leaves your original file untouched, and just adds the modified/deleted/added content after the end of the original file. This is called an incremental update, and it speeds up saving a large file in which you made some modifications.

To save a PDF document from scratch and incorporate all incremental updates, you would use a File>Save As operation. This will always regenerate the PDF document from scratch - and that takes a lot longer.

So, try to safe the document under a new name using File>Save As, and see if that reduces your file size.

DellCentre039134
DellCentre039134Author
Participating Frequently
September 7, 2017

I have tried the File - Save As option, but the file size still increases (at the same rate I think). So for me it didn't work out.

If it helps, I have attached a screenshot of the file size before and after (using File-Save option). Main changes (+17MB) are highlighted.

And to be more specific, this is what I edited

On every page, there is a heading 'www.WEBSITE.com'. I searched each one up and replaced with nothing (hence removed it).

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