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charlotten86139972
charlotten86139972
Inspiring
August 4, 2017
Question

Make AI file size smaller without rasterizing

  • August 4, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 7975 views

Hi,

I'm not sure how to save a smaller file size in AI, and this is stopping me from getting all my work on one page without crashing!

The only things I know about reducing file size is to have RGB colour setting or to export the artwork into a PDF etc. But I want to keep it as an AI file and keep my vectors editable, I don't want to flatten or rasterise my file.

i am currently designing a womenswear collection that needs to be 25 top designs (Mostly plain colour but there is some print swatches too).

I have just designed three printed tops and the file size has saved at 135 mb... Some of the prints are still vectors and some of them are rasterized images, if this makes a difference? :S

My colleagues file has 25 top designs and her file size is 25mb...

How has she done that? Is there a magical setting for save options?

Please help

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 8, 2017

I can think of a couple of things to check, since you are comparing your file to your colleague's.

  1. Are your images linked or embedded? Are her's linked or embedded? If the images are embedded, the file will be larger. If they are linked, the file will be smaller, but the links will be broken if the Illustrator file is sent by itself.

  2. From the panel menus for Swatches, Symbols, Styles, and Brushes, first select unused, then delete any that are unused.
M
Community Expert
MEDHAT EIDCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 7, 2017

Hi .. please check you original jpegs and PNGs file size on Photoshop first and resize all to fit your pattern size usage.

because you can't make a pattern images unless you Embed them before , and thats cause the big size files.

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 4, 2017

It all depends on what exactly is in those files.

Are all your embedded images scaled down to just the size and resolution you need?

Above all this applies to the patterns

What's in those patterns? Lots of paths?

Are all paths optimized to just the number of points you need?

We will need to see those files. Or at least a screenshot, but we would need to know image resolution, number of points, how your patterns are designed etc etc

charlotten86139972
charlotten86139972Author
Inspiring
August 7, 2017

Please see screenshot of my colleagues file in comparison . Theres so much more in here, but the file size is so much less than mine

Luke Jennings
Luke Jennings
Inspiring
August 7, 2017

Have you tried File> Save as? This can remove the file history, which may reduce the size.

You can save a copy of your file, and your colleague's file as PDFs, them open them in Acrobat and go to File> Save as other> Optimized PDF, and click on Audit space usage, that will give you a list of the PDF contents and sizes. Comparing the two PDFs should give you some insight about the difference in file size.

If your raster images are reduced in size, the effective resolution may be much higher than necessary, which would result in increased file size. Generally, the raster elements will increase the file size more than the vector elements.

You can reduce the effective raster resolution in the PDF copy when you optimize it in Acrobat, or re-size the raster images in Photoshop and re-link them to your illustrator file, to produce a smaller PDF.

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