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bracewell4213
Known Participant
October 27, 2023
Answered

Yet another file size question

  • October 27, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 5088 views

I hesitate to post, as there are so many discussions, but I am stumped.

A client file had way too many pasted vector shapes and I thought that's what was bogging down the file and making the exported PDFs large.

I thought I would replace with .ai and also Simplify the path. Nope. The vector art, pasted into illustrator, and Simplified to 2.2 mb and linking in ID didn't help. A single page PDF with minimal text and the graphic is over 9MB.

I tried making a 1MB PSD and that didn't help much. 

I made sure Output included no Profiles. Using default Press Quality as a benchmark.

I eventually deleted all the other pages in the file, nope. I saved as IDML, which really helped reduce the ID file size, but had no impact on the single back blank PDF.

I'm attaching the IDML, the .ai, and a series of PDF tests. 

What is the content on the "blank 5.pdf" that makes the file 9.2 MB?

( tried uploading .ai and it says content type doesn't match extension, which makes no sense. Adobe does not recognize it's own file type? I will upload as PDF, but it was placed as .ai)

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Brad @ Roaring Mouse

    Your files all contain a massive Canto Metadata section. That's what's driving your size up, even on a blank page. I don't use Canto so not sure how to advise to avoid that. If you delete the Canto metadata item in your PDF properties, and resave, your files drop down to almost nothing.

    4 replies

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 28, 2023

    Also, I just noticed on your parent page named A-Master, there is still a pasted vector path at the bottom of the page with 1000s of anchor points. You should consider converting the vectors into a linked image file:

     

     

     

    If I replace the ID file’s Metadata with the default InDesign metadata template and remove the complex vector object, the file size is 1MB. See attached

     

     

     

     

     

      Brad @ Roaring Mouse
      Community Expert
      Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 29, 2023

      As complicated as the vector object seems to be, if you copy and paste it into a new document, and save a PDF, it's less than 1M, so it's not as hoggish as one would think.

      The Canto metadata is travelling with the OP's ID file. It's in the .idml file that we got, and even if I save as a full ID document on my system, a resulting PDF still carries it. ONLY if I copy and paste the objects into a brand new document does it vanish.

      So, this might be a question for the Canto people. Why is it so large and is it supposed to populate into PDFs, etc, etc.

        rob day
        Community Expert
        rob dayCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 30, 2023

        Yes, I agree Rob, that's what I wrote in my post that started all this.

        "I thought I would replace with .ai and also Simplify the path." 

        You've pointed that out a few times now and I've replied a few times that I did put a new .ai in and the resulting PDF was no smaller. I'm very aware of the vectors, believe me, it was the first thing I saw when I inherited this file. That is my plan, and there are additional things at play, like on some pages these are used as photo frames, so I have some choices to make as to achieving the window effect. This is the start of my experimentation, but it was moot when we discovered the problems was the XMP. I appreciate your help with the default.xmp. 


        that I did put a new .ai in and the resulting PDF was no smaller

         

        I meant the file size and performance of the InDesign file would improve because linked files preview with a proxy. I wouldn't expect a change in the PDF because you are still exporting the very complex paths via the link.

         

        I would expect an improvement in the PDF file size if you replaced the .ai file with a .psd version of the art. The attached PDF contains the vector art converted to a PSD and is only 660KB. The arts resolution is 400ppi, more than enough to fully resolve the texture.

        Brad @ Roaring Mouse
        Community Expert
        Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        October 28, 2023

        Your files all contain a massive Canto Metadata section. That's what's driving your size up, even on a blank page. I don't use Canto so not sure how to advise to avoid that. If you delete the Canto metadata item in your PDF properties, and resave, your files drop down to almost nothing.

          rob day
          Community Expert
          rob dayCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 27, 2023

          Hi @bracewell4213 , This looks like it might be the ancestor metadata bug discussed here:

           

          https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/file-size-is-too-big/td-p/9370587#10084949

           

          If I check the ID file’s metadata info I get this for Raw Data:

           

           

          Can you share the placed YellowRedFooter.psd file?

            B
            bracewell4213Author
            Known Participant
            October 29, 2023

            Hi Rob,

            I'm not sure who marked this topic Solved, wouldn't that be up to the posting person? I appreciate the help, but don't consider this solved quite yet...

            I read through that thread and it seems all about .PSD metadata and having a document with a huge amount of images in it. I am not seeing exactly how I replace the metadata in the InDesign file. 
               From the File Info > Raw Data screen, my choices are to Import, Export, or Template Folder. There are no XMP templates in my Adobe Application support folders. I checked my older Mac and these same folders are empty there also.
            There are mentions of Bridge in a search for "default xmp template for indesign", but I don't use Bridge or have it installed, nor do I want to , as Adobe CC is already taxing my computer's memory and SSD.
               So to solve this, I need to find an alternative XMP template to replace the excessive data put there by Canto, correct? Thanks for your insight, this is far down the rabbit hole. The bigger issue is replacing all the insane vectors with .ai, thereby improving InDesign's sluggish response in this file, but before doing so, the XML default would be the place to start.

            rob day
            Community Expert
            rob dayCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            October 29, 2023

            A single page PDF with minimal text and the graphic is over 9MB.

             

            Brad’s answer is correct for the metadata part of the file size problem. There is also a very large vector object on a masterpage that is adding to the file size.

             

            The vector object on your A-Master has 24,100 anchor points— saving the vector art as an image and linking to the image will reduce the file size. Here is the result of a script that counts a selection’s anchor points:

             

             

             

             

            On the metadata, If I Export the ID document’s Raw Data—File>File Info>Export—you can see the XMP text alone is 9MB. The bulk of the file size is CantoMetadata. Do you use Canto Digital Asset Management, or did you inherit this file?:

             

             

            If you replace the vector art with the attached .psd, import the attached default.xmp and do a Save As, the file size will drop to 1MB.

             

             

             

             

            J
            Community Expert
            Jeffrey_SmithCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            October 27, 2023

            blank 5.pdf is just text, and I cannot find anything that is causing the bloat. Copy and paste text into new document creates a smaller file, but there is still a lot of bloat.

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