.pdf large file size from FrameMaker 2019

[anneq090909]

We recently moved to FrameMaker 2019 from FrameMaker 2015. Our .pdf output files are now huge, compared to what they were before switching versions.

For instance, using the exact same book, the output is thus:

Old pdf (FM 2015, Smallest file size selected): 1889 KB

New pdf (FM 2019 with the Defaults.sts set to Smallest file size😞 43,645 KB

Reduced file size pdf (in Acrobat - File>Save as Other>Reduced Size PDF): 3624 KB

What's going on? Any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this? it's not an option to create the .pdf then save it as a smaller file in Acrobat, that's just way too redundant.

Thanks for anything you can offer.

[Barb Binder]

Hi Anne:

A lot of the settings will impact the file size in addition to the job options file (aka preset name). Check the Standard, the Compatibility (higher compatibility produces smaller files), is Optimize for Fast Web View on (on results in a smaller size), is tagged PDF on (results in a bigger file) for starters.

~Barb

[anneq090909]

Thank you, Barb. I'll start looking into those types of settings. I appreciate the screen shot. - Anne

[Amitoj]

The issue may be due to image compression. Do you have access to Acrobat ? If yes, please open PDF in Acrobat and do a Save as Optimized PDF and that should reduce the file size.

thanks

Amitoj Singh

[anneq090909]

thank you - that does lessen the file size, but I'm hoping to do this without having to create a .pdf through FrameMaker and then have another redundant instance of the same .pdf.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

You should also make sure that your FM2019 is all patched up - IIRC there were some PDF tweaks added post-release...

[anneq090909]

Thanks for the suggestion. We actually are running the Beta version of the next update...unfortunately, that didn't help this size issue.

[CMSimard]

Hi Barb, I have tried a few different presets and my file size doesn't change. Does the FrameMaker publish engine interact with the printer settings for the Adobe PDF printer instance? I have played around with that too, but I can't seem to reduce my file size. It is 2x larger than before I upgraded to FM 2019.

[CMSimard]

I tried the workaround suggested in this thread, using Acrobat to reduce the size of the pdf. It cut file size dramatically but graphics quality suffered too much to be an acceptable workaround.

[CMSimard]

A bit more info...when I print to post script via Adobe PDF printer, then distill the postscript to PDF, I get a much smaller file with good graphics. So I am good to release my documents today, but hope I can eventually get the Publish function working.

[jimj10032707]

We recently switched to FM 2019. We had been using Distiller to generate PDFs, rather than the Publish option in Framemaker. But we made some changes to our documents to add shading to the tables we use for notes. The note use transparent PNG files, so we decided to switch to using the Publish option because Distiller cannot render transparent PNG files without putting a white background behind it. Long story short, our PDF files are HUGE. For example, a document that produced a High Quality PDF via Distiller was 24 MB (16MB with Standard setting). However, no matter which setting I use in the Framemaker PDF settings I end up with a 98MB file. I'm about to give up and go back to Distiller if I can figure out how to convert the PNGs to EPS and retain the transparency and the drop shadow on the icons.

[CMSimard]

Hi jimj, I am having the same problem, though I have not switched to PNG files. I use a variety of image file types. No matter what Adobe printer preset I use my PDFs are 3x the size as what I was getting from FM 2015. Are you still having this problem? I am. Have emailed fmerror-reports@adobe.com to see if they have any suggestions. Printing to postscript and distilling to PDF is a bit like taking a time machine back to the 90s!

[jimj10032707]

Sorry you're having the same problem. Sounds like a common refrain. To be clear though, nothing has changed in our documents in terms of image files used. All we did was add a grayscale tint to notation tables that have a transparent PNG icons. Someone in our marketing department created them years ago and the original files are no where to be found. Otherwise I would export them as transparent EPS files and use Distiller. I can't seem to convert the PNGs to EPS without losing transparency.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I think you're going to have to log a bug in the Tracker - please post the link number back here so your fellow FM people can vote on it.

[Klaus Göbel]

Do you use SVG?

If yes, maybe it concernes this problem: https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/FRMAKER-6591

It' about opacity 0 or 1. I didn't test it with values between 0 and 1.

Maybe this opacity-problem hits other image formats, too.

[CMSimard]

I logged a bug related to this.

https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/FRMAKER-7293