Convert&compress .ai file to a small .pdf

[essama52467539]

Hello,

I need help converting 'scietific' figure created via adobe illustrator to a .pdf file.

the file is loaded with images and currently its size is about 400MB, I need to convert to .PDF with at least 600 dpi resolution, but maximum size of 30 MB.

How can I do this?

Thanks

Essam

[Monika Gause]

Is resolution important? Are there raster elements/effects in the file?

Apart form that: why is the file so large?

How many paths and points are there?

Exactly how did you save it (which options)?

[essama52467539]

Hey Monica

Yeah resolution is very important as it has microscopy images (and this is why the file is large).

with regards to the paths and points i'm not really sure, but I did "save as.." and selected PDF. under 'Compression' I selected downsample to 600 dpi. and it's still huge...

[Monika Gause]

Did you save with "Illustrator editability"?

Also: many images will make your file huge.

How many images are there?

[essama52467539]

The file has 24 images.

Would love to know what can be done with the file to compress it to 30 MB and preserve the 600 dpi

Thanks

Essam

[essama52467539]

Will appreciate help still...

[Monika Gause]

essama52467539  schrieb

Will appreciate help still...

In my part of the world there is a thing called "night time" and another thing called "weekend".

How large are your images? (dimensions in the file, not filesize on your computer)

Do you compress them when saving the PDF?

[essama52467539]

13036*18440

Compressing using adobe illustrator gets me from 400MB to around 300MB for 600 dpi. is there is another way to compress the file?

Thanks for help

[Monika Gause]

essama52467539  schrieb

13036*18440

Each of those images is 13036*18440 what? pixels? we need to know the centimetres, millimetres or inches.

But anyway: they might just be too large to get the file below 30 MB. Some things just aren't possible.

[essama52467539]

Yeah in pixels ! what would you advise to do ?

the journal i'm submittin the paper to requires maximum of 30MB and 600 dpi !

[Monika Gause]

You will have to contact them what exactly they need.

[JonathanArias]

have you tried using acrobat "save as other" and choosing "reduce pdf size" option? i just had this morning a 198mb illustrator file that i reduced to 98mb ( originally the .pdf was 180mb).

[Ton Frederiks]

It is impossible, a single image that size saved with the highest (worst) jpeg compression (which would ruin your image) would be around 5,5 mb.

24 X 5,5 mb = 132 mb for the images alone and all quality would be gone.

Maybe you can lower the resolution to 150 ppi and choose a low quality jpeg compression to get the file size down.

[Ray Yorkshire]

Save Adobe PDF > General >

Options

□ Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities

If you deselect that  (assuming the submission isn't  going to be further edited on Adobe Illustrator by the journal staff ) you will reduce the file size a lot.

Can you show their full requirements, as you cannot  have high quality and very low file size.

[essama52467539]

Hey Ray, that was immensely helpful. this option reduced the size to 200MB.

They just say they want 600 dpi image with total size of 30 MB. If I need to contact them what I should I tell them? due to the size of the figure it's impossible to compress it more ?

Thanks!

[Monika Gause]

Why do you send a PDF at all? For a journal send them a Word doc and the compressed JPEGs. How large would that be if you zip it?

[Ray Yorkshire]

Yes best to ask them, or email another contributor to the journal with a similar article