Photoshop and PDF File size issues

[erezr33172142]

Over the last few days i have been getting issues with both Photoshop and InDesign files sizes.  I will focus on just Photoshop for this thread.

I have a JPEG file, created as a render output from a 3D software program.  The file is 858Kb on disk and when opened in photoshop the file is 12M (2250px X1650px @ 150dpi).

I added 2 low res images to the rendered scene and added a drop shadow to one of the objects and a transparency to the other.  The file size at the bottom of the screen now says the file is 12M/31.4M however when i save to disk, the PSD file the file size on disk is showing as 99.6M.  When I flatten the file and save as a JPG  the file size is now 67.9M.

After years of using photoshop (and other adobe products) i have never had this happen before. 

To experiment, I have saved as JPGs with the image quality set at 12 and again at 3 with no changes to the file size but a change to the image quality.  I opened the JPEG and re-saved to get the file size lower - no dice.

I have tried saving as a PNG - same results.  I saved as a PDF (flattened etc) and it was 100M.

I have seen other posts from 2017 talking about Metadata bloating and have seen the scripts available, and while i have been using Photoshop for years this seems to be complicated.  I have exported out to "Save for Web (legacy) and this has dropped the JPEG file to 279k.  While this (and potentially the scripts) is a"Work around" i don't see why i should have to work around something that should be functioning correctly (kind of like having to push your car because the engine doesn't work!)

I have updated Photoshop the the latest version and this still has not fixed the problem.

NOTE:- as per my comment at the start - i am also having the same issue in InDesign where i could not get a 6 page InDesign doc with 6 / 8 placed images and some text boxes to drop below 400M!

Is this something Adobe is aware of and fixing?  Is there a simple fix i can do without having to write lines of code?

[Derek Cross]

It might be worth posting this in the InDesign forum.

[Test Screen Name]

What is your exact version of Photoshop? Not "latest", a string of numbers please.

[erezr33172142]

Photoshop CC release 20.0.3

[JJMack]

erezr33172142  wrote

Over the last few days i have been getting issues with both Photoshop and InDesign files sizes.  I will focus on just Photoshop for this thread.

I have a JPEG file, created as a render output from a 3D software program.  The file is 858Kb on disk and when opened in photoshop the file is 12M (2250px X1650px @ 150dpi).

I added 2 low res images to the rendered scene and added a drop shadow to one of the objects and a transparency to the other.  The file size at the bottom of the screen now says the file is 12M/31.4M

Lets stop here for a while. How did you add the two low resolution image?  You do not write how you did that. All we know is there are low resolution images.  They could two low resolution PSD file placed in embedded and each could have 80000 layers in the embedded file object that has huge ancestor metadata.  Placed will also scale up low resolution image if you place them in higher resolution documents then scale that layer down in size if it needs to fit it on canvas if the smart object layer created is larger then canvas size.  The Image layers may have few pixels however the Pixels rendered for the object and  embedded file object can be huge.

Layers can be any size much larger than canvas size if you save layers you have to save data for the pixels in each layer. You have same some style info the needs to be saved and some layer mask info that also need to be saved.

[erezr33172142]

Thanks for jumping in to help.

They where screenshots from the web which i opened in Photoshop, traced around using the Polygon Lasso tool, cut out (cmd C) and pasted (Cmd V) into the photoshop file i was creating. These where not some 100MB files i opened that had hidden layers or where they super huge high res files etc.

I have been using photoshop for about 20 years and while i can't rule out 100% that i am not making some rookie mistake and accidentally checked some box (the recent CC updated changed the UX around) - i don't think this is  some common mistake or definitely not an issue i have come across before.

[JJMack]

I only use Photoshop.   I Can not think of any reason a 858KB Jpeg saved from indesign would add extra bagage into a document in Photoshop.

I copyied a 858KB Jpeg to a temp folder on my desktop and open it into Photoshop  then pasted two screen caprure onto the image. The image is onle 1600x1067 Pixels my screens are larger 1920x1080 so the pasted in layers are larger than canvas size so clipped by the canvas size.

I saved a layered PSD my preference is  PSD Max compatibility. The saved file size is a 10MB PSD.  I then saved a Jpeg file quality 10. Its size was 306KB, 500KB smaller then the original Jpeg.  I then turn the visibility of the pasted in layers off  and save a second jpeg quality 10. It was once again  858KB give or take the years between the two saves and different Photoshop versions.  I never save PDF file using Photoshop.

[erezr33172142]

Exactly JJMack.  There is no reason why this should be happening. I though it may be a wider issue based off the latest version of Photoshop but doesn't seem like anyone else is seeing or can replicate what i am seeing.  I am going to try un-installing and then re-install Photoshop and see if the issue is resolved.

[jane-e]

erezr33172142  wrote

I am also having the same issue in InDesign where i could not get a 6 page InDesign doc with 6 / 8 placed images and some text boxes to drop below 400M!

...

Is there a simple fix i can do without having to write lines of code?

Hi

In InDesign the images should be linked, and if they are properly linked, they will not have an effect on the size of the InDesign file at all. Check your Links panel.

To make your file smaller in InDesign, go to File > Save As and keep the same name and file location. This will delete the temporary files that InDesign doesn't need anymore. For fun, jot down the file size before and after and report it back to us.

Jane

[erezr33172142]

Thanks Jane.

All the files where definitely linked files.  There was 6 linked files in the document, 4 of which where layered photoshop files of about 100M each.  The other 2 files where only 1Mb.   The saved INDESIGN file (.indd) was 1GB.... thats even bigger than the combined file sizes that are linked in there if the images where somehow embedded (whicj they are not).... and as you say as these are links the actual InDesign file should be a nice small size.  The final export from InDesign in 250M and will not reduce.  The files that are linked are the same files i was having the PhotoShop issue - so i am hoping that by resolving the photoshop issue will resolve the InDesign issue.  I am going to try deleting photoshop and re-installing and see if the issue is resolved.

[JJMack]

If you have Placed layers  that are not embedded while the file object is not prart of the document the pixels rendered for the smart object layers will be part of the saved document most likely.   Photoshop Place will scale image if the Image files print resolution does not match your  actived documentprint resolution during place.  If you place in a 72dpi image file into a 300dpi resolution document Photoshop will increase the imags size over 400% that is 4x its canvas size.   Photoshop may then scale the large smart object layer to fit onto the active document canvas if that is how your photoshop prefences is set.  The layer size will be much larger.  The smart object layer associated transforn just scale the large layer to fit on canvas.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

Perhaps the following will help:

Prepression: Metadata Bloat – photoshop:DocumentAncestors