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Participant
April 13, 2016
Question

How do I reduce a PDF file size on Adobe Reader XI in order to send it in an email?

  • April 13, 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 76710 views

I have a PDF file that when sent in an email, get's bounced back because the large size cannot be delivered. I tried to open it with "Preview" and export - quartz - reduce file size - but when i go to check the new files size, it's actually larger, which doesn't make sense. I'm currently using a Mac but I also need to know how to do this on an HP laptop because that is where most of my work files are located (not sure if that changes anything). This version isn't any sort of "Pro" or "Acrobat" also.

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4 replies

Legend
August 15, 2020

Also, why use such a really awkward workaround when you can use free services like wetransfer.com to send large files, and everyone does rather than trying to fit the tiny file size limits (for 20 years now) from email??

Participant
August 15, 2020

It's an awkward workaround perhaps but works for me: I convert the (too large) pdf to a png or jpg picture file first, resulting in a much smaller file size, and then (in Mac Preview) I export that back to pdf... The resulting pdf has the same (small) file size as the picture file. Hope this helps. 

Bernd Alheit
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 15, 2020

The original question was about Adobe Reader XI on Windows.

Legend
April 13, 2016

‌It's entirely normal for most PDF files to be too big too email. If you buy Acrobat it can reduce some but it isn't a magic bullet. Just send another way. wetransfer.com is popular and easy to use.

April 13, 2016

Hi,

You could optimize or reduce file size with Acrobat only.

Reader does not come with this option.

If you have Acrobat,you could try saving it as reduced size PDF or Optimized PDF.

Regards

Sukrit Dhingra