Best workflow for exporting / saving a high quality PDF for email from Photoshop

[El_Jeffe]

I'm attaching PDF's to email promos to potential clients at ad agencies etc. As a photographer I want the best image quality and for the fonts and design elements to look their best while having the file sizes be as reasonable as possible as many of the leads I'm sending to are looking at these on mobile devices.

I've used Save As > Photoshop PDF, but either getting files that are 2.3 MB when saving in higher quality, a little large when sending an email to say hello to someone, or 178 Kb when saving as "Smallest, email quality", which is a little too low quality if someone is viewing on their desktop rather than mobile. I'm really looking for a file size in the 500 - 800 Kb size, that gives me a good compromise between image quality and file size.

How would you approach this problem?

Appreciate your suggestions!

[Lumigraphics]

You can change the settings and save your own preset. maybe look at changing the Compression settings. As for file size, that can vary widely depending on the PDF content. Follow the 3 S principle- short, sweet, simple.

[Conrad_C]

First, we’ll assume that the pixel dimensions of the document are appropriate for reading on email clients on mobile devices, not for example a huge US Letter or A4 print-sized page.

To get to 500-800K in size might require settings that don’t exactly match any of the available Adobe PDF Presets. In that case you’ll have to work out the right settings yourself. You can either start from a high-quality Adobe PDF Preset and work down, or start from a low-quality preset and work up. Whichever way you go, the picture below suggests some of the options that might be most likely to get you where you want for email (see first picture below):

Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities must be deselected. If it’s selected, a copy of the Photoshop document with layers will be embedded in the PDF. You definitely don’t need all that in there.

In the Compression panel, adjust the Downsampling value. If 300 ppi makes the PDF too large for email, reduce it.

For Image Quality, Maximum creates the largest file, so reduce it.

You’ll probably need to play with different combinations of Downsampling and Image Quality settings to hit the balance you want between low file size and acceptable quality. For example, maybe you’ll find that downsampling to 150 ppi and Medium image quality gets you there, or maybe it will be a different combination.

If you want even more control, and your subscription includes Acrobat (the one that edits, not just the free reader), you can use its Advanced Optimization feature to strip the PDF of specific kinds of data and metadata, shown in the picture below. But Photoshop doesn’t put a lot of that stuff in a PDF (such as JavaScript and form fields) in the first place, so I don’t know how much more that will reduce the file size. I think downsampling and image quality will be the two variables that make the most difference.

[El_Jeffe]

Brilliant!

I have the full subscription, so yes, I can use the advanced optimization. Looks like that gives more control than the Adobe on-line PDF compression app. 

Thanks!