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A
asee23455
Participating Frequently
March 31, 2013
Answered

Embedded images result in enormous filesize

  • March 31, 2013
  • 4 replies
  • 39392 views

I'm using Illustrator to crop and arrange a number of raster images. However, I'm starting to have file management problems, because the Illustrator files quickly balloon in size.

Example: I got public domain jpg image of a deer off the Wikimedia Commons. This jpg image is 0.35MB. I opened up a new Illustrator document, placed and embedded the image, and saved the document (with the 'pdf compatible box' unchecked). The resulting Illustrator file is 7.7MB in size, over 20 times the size of the embedded jpg image.

I've looked around these fora, but other than the 'pdf compatible box', I couldn't find any good solutions. Could anyone suggest a workaround? Or is there some other option or preference that I could tweak? I need to use embedded images rather than links, but the files are getting out of control (>100MB).

The screen capture at the end of this post shows the situation. In the top folder in the screencapture, the image file is highlighted, so you can see the filesize. In the lower folder in the screencapture, the Illustrator file is highlighted, so you can see it's filesize. Then you can see the open Illustrator document on the right.

(edit: the forum software is no longer allowing me to add images, so I've put the screencapture on Google Drive here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0Hoxcl5zTEtX0d3MlFQWnhSWEU/edit?usp=sharing)

The .ai file with the embedded image is here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0Hoxcl5zTEtMGhiOVRnMnhSVGM/edit?usp=sharing

I'm using Illustrator CS6 64-bit, v16.0.3 on Windows 8-64.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Tim

    Correct answer zippidi

    I don't know if you ever got a reasonable answer from these so called know-it-all f@ck wits but the solution I found was quite simple.

    Cropped your image down in Photoshop to the size that it will be displayed on your Illustrator page at the appropriate PPI.

    I was having the same issue and wondered why embedding 7 images resulted in an increase in size of 150mb even though each image size on the page was only 30mm x 30mm.

    As an experiment, I cropped them down to this size in PS and it worked.

    4 replies

    Q
    Qualtry24584829br5v
    Participant
    June 16, 2022

    This is an old thread but the problem still exists. Using linked files is probably the safest solution though not always the most convenient. To simplify the process just use the package feature. It will automatically place your illustrator file, linked images, & fonts in a subfolder. Make sure you don't have PDF compatibily checked when saving your file. So long as the structure of that subfolder is maintained you shouldn't run into problems with links.

    There is an option not mentioned here that might be better for those who want embedded images & a single file. Instead of saving your document as an illustrator file, save it as a PDF. You will be presented with a dialog box that contains various settings for the PDF you're about to save. On the general tab make sure to check "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities". On the compression tab use one of the jpeg options for color & greyscale bitmap images. This is the key to keeping the embedded images at a reasonable size. It may also be helpful to use downsampling to further decrease file size. For example, if you're sending a the file to a print shop that only prints at 300 dpi, there is no sense in embedding 600 dpi images. The down side to this solution is imaged degradation. Each time you open and save the document using this method the images will be recompressed. Over time that may become an issue.

     
    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 16, 2022
    quoteThere is an option not mentioned here that might be better for those who want embedded images & a single file. Instead of saving your document as an illustrator file, save it as a PDF. You will be presented with a dialog box that contains various settings for the PDF you're about to save. On the general tab make sure to check "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities".

    By @Qualtry24584829br5v

     

    The images will only be embedded in the PDF part of the file. When you open it in Illustrator, the placed files will not be there. You can extract them from the PDF, but that will require extra work and the knowledge of how to do it. And you will have the same problem over and over again after every edit.

    Z
    zippidiCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    November 22, 2016

    I don't know if you ever got a reasonable answer from these so called know-it-all f@ck wits but the solution I found was quite simple.

    Cropped your image down in Photoshop to the size that it will be displayed on your Illustrator page at the appropriate PPI.

    I was having the same issue and wondered why embedding 7 images resulted in an increase in size of 150mb even though each image size on the page was only 30mm x 30mm.

    As an experiment, I cropped them down to this size in PS and it worked.

      corys53234175
      corys53234175
      Participant
      December 1, 2023

      This is the best solution here, thanks!

      Steve Fairbairn
      Steve Fairbairn
      Inspiring
      April 1, 2013

      This behaviour is entirely normal. The pixel information becomes part of the Illustrator file and is therefore in Illustrator format.

      To see the real uncompressed size of your JPEG files, try saving them in other formats, for example uncompressed tiff.

      You will see that the Illie files are not really bloated, it’s just that the JPEG compression has been removed from the images, which is why you should keep your images linked for as long as possible.

      Why do you think you need to embed the images?

      A
      asee23455Author
      Participating Frequently
      April 1, 2013

      I think I need to embed the images because I work off of two different computers. Recent experience suggests that, when I transfer the project folder from one system to the other, the links break. I use simple backup software to make sure that the project folders on the two systems are identical, so the relative locations of the files are the same on both systems, but since these are different computers, the absolute paths are different.

      In an earlier post on a related question, folks suggested that Illustrator uses absolute locations rather than relative ones, and that this is indeed the cause of my broken-link problem. If I could get Illustrator to use relative links, I'd be OK, but posters suggested this wasn't possible. Given that I need both computers, and relative links aren't possible, I have two choices: use links, but have to keep resetting them (annoying) or embed the images in the ai documents (slightly less annoying).

      If you know of any better options, I'd love to hear.

      A
      asee23455Author
      Participating Frequently
      April 2, 2013

      I offer some insight here, hopefully.

      When you embed the image and also create a pdf compatible ai file it embeds the file twice one for the ai file and the other for the pdf version of the file. The file size includes twice the image data so it will be considerable.

      If you turn off this option it will reduce the file size but you will not be able to place the file in another program with a preview as the preview is a part of the pdf data.

      Not only that but you will not be able to print the file to a non-postscript printer that is it must be outputted through the postscript process or if you wish a postscript driver.

      In the past the generally accepted and recommended method was to link the image as a way of working and maintaining a smaller size file and then use the Include Linked Images option in the Illustrator Save Options dialog so only the file you sent the printer would be large. Of course if you are like me and make back ups of everything then you would now have a copy of what you sent the printer as well and the original file which would take more space than a single file with the embedded image.

      The more modern way of doing this is to work with the link file and then save it as a pdf as well the pdf will be considerably smaller in size and the linked ai file will be as well together they will be about the same as an ai file with the pdf compatibility turn off which is another way of doing this which is fine if you are not placing or opening the file in another application or sending it to a non postscript driver for output.

      I recommend for your purposes to work linked, the traditional way, and output to pdf and send the pdf to the printer or if you are a member of the Cloud link the image and use the new collect for output mechanism which will collect you file images and fonts for out put in a neat folder for you, or at least that is what I understand.

      This is only a suggestion not a directive, it is meant to be helpful. Please feel free to ignore it entirely if it does not suit your needs.


      Wade, I appreciate your suggestion. Unfortunately, it seems like there's no good solution here. Sure, I could put all the stuff in one folder, but I've just started this project, and I already have ~20 images and ~20 .ai files, with a semi-random set of 3-5 images being used by each .ai file. The total number of files will probably triple by the time I'm done. If all the files are in one folder, I can find files by name, but it's easier still if they're organized into subfolders by subject matter.

      For now, I guess I'll go with embedding. It seems the best answer of the bunch. But if file sizes become more troublesome, I can go back to linking, and just accept the need to regularly repair the links.

      Jacob Bugge
      Community Expert
      Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 31, 2013

      Tim,

      When you File>Place the image, you may tick Link.

      With this, Illy uses the image as an external file that only appears in the document, and the AI filesize remains low.

      A
      asee23455Author
      Participating Frequently
      March 31, 2013

      True, but I really want the images embedded, not linked.

      Jacob Bugge
      Community Expert
      Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 31, 2013

      Tim,

      One reason for bloating filesize is that when you start messing with JPEGs you lose the compression, so it is a bit like trying to fly with liquid helium still in the tank without letting it inflate the balloon.

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