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jan_n
Participant
July 20, 2010
Question

Reducing huge file sizes

  • July 20, 2010
  • 5 replies
  • 88783 views

I am making very detailed artwork in Illustrator that ultimately has to be uploaded to a website as a pdf file. This artwork takes ages to save and when converted to pdf format, even at the lowest quality pdf, the files are huge. What is the best way to get the file size down? Turning the files into low res jpegs somewhat defeats the purpose of making detailed vector art in the first place.

The artwork has a lot of repeated elements that could be turned into symbols but I'm told this doesn't fix the problem of huge pdfs.

Thanks for any help.

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

T
Tegiike Jackson
Participant
December 11, 2019

Regards,

I found this link resourceful: https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/45491/how-do-i-reduce-pdf-file-sizes

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 11, 2019

All of these just make me want to cry. That stackexchange thread is about preparing files for print. And all of the "tips" listed there will cause issues in printing. The biggest issue is of course importing a third party PDF into Illustrator, but I digress.

J
justgivemeananswer
Participant
March 14, 2013

Hi,

I had the same issue. I have Illustrator cs5. I had a detailed file exceeding 107mb and I was able to get it down to 7mb without any outside steps.

I wanted to send pdf files via email. If the files are just for viewing/proofing and not for editing, you can reduce the size quite by doing the following.

  1. While in .ai file, "flatten artwork" from the drop down menu in layers control window.
  2. Do "save as" and select pdf
  3. Select "compression" from left column
  4. Deselect the following boxes
      • Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities
      • Embed Page Thumbnails
  5. Check the "Optimize for fast view web view
  6. Click "save pdf"

You will know have a very manageable attachment to send via the series of tubes. Hope this helps.

    A
    Anonymous
    December 8, 2012

    Hi

    Please follow this video tutorial and you will see a small thing can reduce the file size easily. It was really helpfull for me.

    How to Reduce AI Vector file size: An Adobe illustrator Tutorial

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5m3TKrXE3g

    My AI file size was not going under 1 MB even by deleting extras so what I did is I opened a raster small image of 100 kb with Adobe Illustrator. then deleted the image and saved the file as AI. Then I Copied the whole vector content of original AI file that was bigger then 1 MB with ctrl+c command and pasted it in the new file created with raster image. and saved it. Wow the new file size is only 137 kb now.

    Thanks

    A
    Anonymous
    December 8, 2012

    Hi jan~n

    Please follow this video tutorial and you will see a small thing can reduce the file size easily. It was really helpfull for me.

    How to Reduce AI Vector file size: An Adobe illustrator Tutorial

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5m3TKrXE3g

    What I figured out was that your suggestion for opening a raster image was very good.

    My AI file size was not going under 1 MB even by deleting extras so what I did is I opened a raster small image of 100 kb with Adobe Illustrator. then deleted the image and saved the file as AI. Then I Copied the whole vector content of original AI file that was bigger then 1 MB with ctrl+c command and pasted it in the new file created with raste image. and saved it. Wow the new file size is only 137 kb now.

    Thanks

    S
    sanjaysingh82
    Participant
    July 21, 2010

    If you are using Illustrator CS5 then while saving to PDF, from save Adobe PDF dialog choose "Smallest file Size" preset from Adobe PDF preset dropdown. it would reduce the size of PDF to a great extent.

    Thanks

    J
    jan_nAuthor
    Participant
    July 21, 2010

    Thanks Sanjay. That was the first thing I tried. It hardly made any difference. It reduced a file of 29Mb down to 27Mb. So that's not the answer in this case. The artwork is very detailed and has many small repeated elements. I feel that has something to do with the problem, if that helps. I have the feeling that pdf for is good for reducing the size of raster illustrations but it doesn't seem to have much impact on vector illustrations.

    Scott Falkner
    Community Expert
    Scott FalknerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 21, 2010

    That certainly is a tremendous file. Did you make sure to keep Include Illustrator Editing Capability UNchecked? Let’s learn what we can about the file. What are the physical dimensions of the artboard(s)? Are there many imported raster images, either linked or embedded? Did any of the vector art come from another application, like CAD or 3D?

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