Output PDFs file size too big

Report · Jul 28, 2023

As a photographer I have been using Bridge for over a decade. One of the most important ways I use it is to create PDF documents of low res (but good quality) images to show clients as contact sheets, often with one image per page. I found this to be a quick easy way to create a high res or low res PDF that can be emailed.

Recently with the new Bridge updates, the PDF sizes have become exponentially bigger - and therefore not possible to email. I never used to have to resize every image as the Output panel was very good at compressing and doing this for me and creating a usable file size. It is even creating large file sizes from small LR images. I don't know what has happened or if there is any solution to this, but my workflow is now incredibly slow as I try to compress and optimize PDFs in Adobe Acrobat which also is very glitchy and sometimes doesn't work at all. I'm now doing more work to try and do something I have done in Bridge for years and it's driving me crazy. I have already read the one post I found about this where someone suggested removing transparency option. I have already done this, and still the files are too big to email. For example, the images themselves (around 10-30 depending on job) together in MB make less than 15MB but as soon as I drag them into a PDF in Output panel, the file size will jump to over 100MB. This makes no sense to me - what information is it adding? I am also selecting a web size file at 1200x1600 px 72 dpi and high quality but not max which I have done for years. So why are the PDF'S SO BIG. Any help would be apprecaited as this used to just work well.

Report · Aug 24, 2023

Sorry I cant help... I'm also having this issue recently. Would love to figure out what's happening in PDF creation. Often changing the ppi and image quality settings in the output module do nothing to reduce size of my PDF. There doesnt seem to be any consistancy in this. I have tried clearing cache. Unchecking preserve transparency has not helped.

Report · Aug 31, 2023

Yes very strange.. we are getting the same thing. But here is the strange part. It's only happening on our Mac. I am running the same version of Bridge on my PC with exactly the same settings on both computers an mine is running as normal. 6mb PDF contact sheets compared to 22mb contact sheets from the mac on the exact same images from the same server drive.

Hope Adobe runs a fix ASAP. it's very invonvenient.

Report · Oct 11, 2023

Same issue here as well.

Our PDFs are ballooning in size for no obvious reason. Most often they are simple low resolution images (350kb each) over 1-2 pages. These documents that used to be 1-2MB are now 30+MB. They can no longer be emailed and have impacted our workflow quite a bit.

Desperately seeking a solution!

Report · Oct 11, 2023

I should specify: we are having this issue with Windows machines. Filesizes are also inconsistent between machines (with same test images) even though Bridge is same version across the board.

Report · Oct 24, 2023

I was just having this same issue and came across your post. I updated my Bridge to version 14 and it fixed the problem. Version 13 was making the PDF 144 MB and now with version 14 it is down to 11 MB.

Report · Feb 28, 2024

I have the same problem, is there a solution yet, the file size of a PDF is redicuous!

Report · Feb 28, 2024

I just made a second PDF of 130 image pages, I halved the size ot 6 inch width, made it 72 DPI and put quality to 5 on the sliding scale, and the file size came out larger than a 13x11 inch version 150 DPI with quality set to 10! Makes no sense...

Report · Mar 04, 2024

This needs to be sorted out as soon as possible; it's been a problem since the very first 2024 update.
We use contact sheets to output PDF's a lot, and the output is enormous.. 90mb for a one page 72dpi 1000px output!

As a workaround, I often have to revert to Adobe 2022 to make them, but the trouble is that I cannot then batch process to Photoshop using this version of the app. This adds so much time to our workflows - opening different versions of apps.

Report · Apr 02, 2024

The only workaround I've found so far is exporting all of the contact sheet pages as jpegs. Then open page one of the new jpegs in Acrobat and import the other jpegs into the Acrobat file and save.

On a Mac, you can drag all of the jpegs into Acrobat and merge jpegs to create one PDF when prompted.

Everything will be rasterized, so starting with a high-quality contact sheet is better.

Report · Apr 08, 2024

Just confirming my same experience and sharing your pain. Experienced it first with one of the 2023 versions ... thought I was going crazy especially as I wasn't able to find similair experiences online. Upgrading helped for a short while but back to the same issue with the latest 2024 version 14.01 137 (PC). A gigagntic and time consuming pain in the neck to share photo proofs with my team.

Report · Apr 11, 2024

Thank you Fairburn, I have rolled back to Version 12 via the creative cloud, and 65 page PDF files are now 29 MB instead of 250 MB IHooray). You would have thought it possible to look at the relevant coding on V12 of bridge and cut and paste it to the latest version? Or is that why I am a simple photographer and not a developer...

Report · Jul 22, 2024

I am consistenly having the same issue. Changing the resolution and image quality makes little to no difference.

Report · Oct 03, 2024

I have the same issue so bumping this up. We set up a template with letter, 4x5 grid, 150 ppi and when we first output its 4.5 mb. Quit, close, go home, run the same assets again using the saved template - 32.5 mb!

There is definitely a bug when it comes to exporting PDFs. Checked transparency settings, etc. Files are ~300 kb jpgs (9 of them) so the size is way out of whack!

Report · Oct 05, 2024

OMG I AM HAVING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE!!!! I WILL EXPORT FILE IS TO LARGE TO SEND EMAIL, I WILL REDUSE DPI EVEN QUALITY AND THE RESULTS IS A LARGER FILE MB. WTF? WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING AS A WORK AROUND IS USING BRIDGE 2024 TO CONVERT MY PSDs TO JPG CAUSE 2022 WON'T RCONIZE PS2024, THEN CLOSE BRIDGE 2024, OPEN BRIDGE 2022 TO EXPORT THE JPGS TO PDF AND GIVES ME AGOUT 9MB FILE TO SEND THRU EMAIL. THE SAME EXPORT IN BRIDGE 2024 WOULD BE 3XS THAT SIZE. I CALLED SUPPORT AT LEAST TWICE AND THEY WERE BAFFLED JUST LIKE US. GO FIGURE.

Report · Oct 05, 2024

OMG I AM HAVING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE!!!! BRIDGE 2024 WILL PRODUCE PDFs way TO LARGE TO SEND EMAIL, I WILL REDUSE DPI EVEN QUALITY AND THE RESULTS IS A LARGER FILE MB. WTF? WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING AS A WORK AROUND IS USING BRIDGE 2024 TO CONVERT MY PSDs TO JPG CAUSE 2022 WON'T RCONIZE PS2024, THEN CLOSE BRIDGE 2024, OPEN BRIDGE 2022 TO EXPORT THE JPGS TO PDF AND GIVES ME AGOUT 9MB FILE TO SEND THRU EMAIL. THE SAME EXPORT IN BRIDGE 2024 WOULD BE 3XS THAT SIZE. I CALLED SUPPORT AT LEAST TWICE AND THEY WERE BAFFLED JUST LIKE US. GO FIGURE.

Report · Oct 05, 2024

Hi, @Lawrence Photography, (I will assume that you're using all caps because you're frustrated and not screaming at us.)

When considering an image's storage size, two factors need to be addressed: its height and width and the amount of compression done on the JPG image.

If you have an image that is (say) 5000 pixels wide and reduce that to (say) 2500 pixels wide, the storage size will drop by 3/4. If your original JPG was 4 MB and you reduce the image size by half, your new image, at the same compression, will be about 1 MB. However, resizing an image too far will make it appear pixelated/fuzzy/soft at the new intended size.

If your original images were saved at JPG compression 10 and dropped down to (say) 4, the image storage size would be much lower, but at that amount of compression, it would greatly suffer from JPG degradation. Generally, a compression of around 7 is a happy compromise of storage size and degradation.

Both of these should be factored in when preparing images for any PDF process. You need to experiment to find your sweet spot.

Report · Oct 07, 2024

@gary_sc Not sure this is what we are reporting.

We have 3.7 mb worth of jpg files. Uncompressed they are 24 mb.

Create a letter sized 4x5 column contact sheet at 150 ppi 8 quality and I get a 4.5 mb file. All is good. Save the template, close Bridge, go home.

On a second attempt with the same images, template preset, etc. we are getting a 32 mb file. Reducing the PPI to 72 makes the file 45 mb!

There is no way Bridge should be producing PDFs at this size.

If I do the exact same size, grid, PDF settings in InDesign with Full-Res (300 ppi) images I get a 4 mb PDF.

Something is wrong in the PDF distiller in Bridge.

Report · Oct 10, 2024

I have recently caught this bug too. I have found that by exporting my file at a very low resolution and image quality first for some reason if I then change back to 300ppi and save the file again it will be at a good quality and reasonable size. It may take a few goes though. It makes no sense.

Report · Oct 16, 2024

I have the same problem with Bridge creating extremely large files no matter what I try. I even made the files smaller than 1mb an no difference. I lower quality and dpi to 72 out come is horrible images and still large pdf.. I do a lot of emailing pdf.

MY SOLUTION WHICH I FEEL SINCE I PAY FOR A SUBSCRIPTION I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SPEND EXTRA TIME FOR A WORKAROUND. WHAT I HAVE TO DO IS OPEN MY SAVED ADOBE BRIDGE 2022 AND USE THAT TO CREATE THE PDFS AND THEY ALWAYS COME TO AROUND 5 TO 8MBS. THEY ARE JPGS AND I EXPORT 150PPI AND 8 QUALITY. IF I DO THAT IN BRIDGE 2024 I GET ABOUT 30MB OR BIGGER!!!! WHY IS NOT ADOBE LISTENING TO US???? I CALLED SUPPORT A FEW MONTHS AGO AND WE SPENT ABOUT AN HOUR AND THEIR FINAL COMMENT, "I AM BAFFELED AND CAN'T GIVE YOU A FIX SO USE THE ADOBE 2022" WTF? PEACE.

Report · Oct 16, 2024

Has the new updtae fixed it?

Report · Oct 16, 2024

I ported my custom PDF Export script from Bridge 12 to Bridge 13+ and just setup a template because I produce PDFs for work, and I'm seeing pretty close to identical filesizes with the same set of photos. Make sure your settings haven't changed from what you have been using with the older Bridge version.

Adobe changed the template XML format used to store each template's settings but that shouldn't have any effect on the finished product.

My last output used 413 1600 pixel wide JPEG files, 96ppi, quality 3, plus a small header graphic, and came out to 15.24MB. This is consistent, the one with almost the same set of images was 16MB from Bridge 12.

Report · Oct 21, 2024

Hello @Stephen Swain
Please share the following details about the issue:

System configuration
Is the issue specific to particular files or formats?
Kindly share the sample file(s) where you observed the issue by sending them to sharewithbr@adobe.com and referencing this thread.

Additionally, Please share the output template XML from the following locations where the issue was reproducible:

Mac: /Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Bridge 2025/OutputModule/ContactSheet/UserTemplate
Windows: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge 2025\OutputModule\ContactSheet\UserTemplate

Thanks,
Bridge Team

Report · Oct 21, 2024

Thanks for contacting me, I cannot email you the PDF files as they are over
100mb for a fifty page PDF. I afraid I am too busy to look for the other
stuff you ask for.

I have been using the Adobe PDF compressor but tit takes ages.

Best Stephen

Report · Oct 21, 2024

@Shashwat_Srivastava I'll send you the details you are looking for.