creating PDF's

[mariovalverdealfaro]

hi there I will like to know if anyone here know how to create a PDf file, cause everytime I create one, they finish in a size around 50 MB for a 30 pgs file which is too much, if you consider there are online magazines (full of pictures) containing about 200 pgs and the size is around 30 MB , someone can help me please, I use Illustrator to create the files or Indesign, adobe acrobat 7.0, etc, but they keep doing large files, even if I save then as Smallest file size option and things like that, thanks you all:D

[budafist]

If this is for print, then 50MB is fine.

It sounds like you know what you are doing, but smallest file size options should work...

If you require a smaller file for web viewing only, you will need to select "smallest file size" / lowest quality settings when you are creating your file. I can post a step by step if you let me know what programme you are working in.

Failing that, opening your file in Acrobat Professional and using "reduce file size" works nicely.

[mariovalverdealfaro]

hey thanks, well for print I dont have troubles with size, I need the PDF's for web!! so there is my problem, i use "smallest file size" options but they work yes a lot but not enough I think is there anything else i shoud do, most of the pdf i star them in Illustrator save is as Pdf "smallest file size" them put all together in acrobat professional them saved as "smallest file size" or WEb quality I dont remember, ahhh sometimes i save all as curves! because I had problems with text when I dont save them as curves, all the text start moving here and there, that's why I save them as curves but besides that, I do what you say, so any ideas?

[urstwile]

Saving all your type as paths (curves) will definitely increase the file size. A one page text page out of InDesign with the type still as editable type saves to 412kb, the same page with the text converted to outlines saves to 2 megabytes.

When you save to pdf at smallest file size, you sometimes have to monkey around with the font embedding to get your type to remain in the same position when it goes to PDF.

I do suspect, however, that converting text to paths (curves/outlines) is what's causing your large file size.

[mariovalverdealfaro]

well thanks but!! anyone knows how to keep the text in it place without making it into curves so the files don get that large, and how so people create online magazines so light (ex: a 200 pgs pdf that is only 30 MB???

[urstwile]

To me, it sounds as if you're not embedding your fonts correctly, and this is what is causing your text to shift. I've found that the default "Smallest File Size" preset for PDF is not the best way to make a small file size PDF, I generally create my own preset based off of that one and tweak the font embedding options.

[mojoprime]

yeah, i usually tweak mine as well. if you use a lot of transparency and are posting the finished product to the web, you probably need to save it in acrobat 6 or 7 format, in my opinion. makes a slightly smaller file and if someone is looking at it on the web, they probably have the most recent version of acrobat. of course, if you're going for press-ready, it's a completely different thing.

i looked through this place. it may give you some ideas.

http://www.pdfzone.com/category2/0,1874,1904385,00.asp

also, you might wander through adobe's online help. they can hel you optimize your pdfs.

good luck!

[mariovalverdealfaro]

wel thank you all , all answer I think help me understand better this issue, I' ll tell you later how is goes!! thanks:D

[CamarotaDesign]

Are you sure you are compressing all images to 72 DPI? In the PDF save options, select downsample to 72dpi for images over 72dpi. That should cut the file size down pretty good. Also, taking off editing capability, and don't embed thumbnails. I'm able to compress a 50 meg press file to about 1 meg for web previews.

[mariovalverdealfaro]

ahhh thanks for all the comments, tricks and suggestions are very very welcome!!!

[aid4design]

Thanks to a good buddy of mine, this article just recently began to spread like wildfire throughout the prepress world... it is a must read for anyone and ALL who will ever deal with .pdfs


ARTICLE LINK (http://americanprinter.com/mag/printing_best_pdfs/)

Enjoy!!:)

[urstwile]

aid4design, that was an awesome article. Thanks so much for posting it! :)

[aid4design]

no prob, like I said it's thanks to one of my good buds at ppf.com that I even knew about it. ;)

[urstwile]

I bookmarked it, because I learned a lot and I know I'll be referring back to it when I have weird PDF issues. Great share.

[aid4design]

I sent it on to several of my customers for my prepress job, it has made theirs and my life so much easier..;)

my buddy is getting recognition and quoted in an upcoming article about the success and spread of that article(a follow up of sorts), since he shared it with the wide world of prepress (even though it was in a widely read magazine, I dont think it would have spread the way it has if he hadnt posted it at ppf.com).. should also be an interesting read.. I'll post it too once it is out..

[mojoprime]

man, that is outstanding. i sent to the other designers i work with as well.

[DrummerHead]

Excellent article, learnt a lot. And converted it to PDF... seriously :D

[aid4design]

I sent it on to several of my customers for my prepress job, it has made theirs and my life so much easier..;)

my buddy is getting recognition and quoted in an upcoming article about the success and spread of that article(a follow up of sorts), since he shared it with the wide world of prepress (even though it was in a widely read magazine, I dont think it would have spread the way it has if he hadnt posted it at ppf.com).. should also be an interesting read.. I'll post it too once it is out..

here is the other article I mentioned I would post...

from American Printer Mag:

LINK (http://americanprinter.com/mag/printing_pdfs_put_fubar/)

:)

ALSO NOTE TO MODS: could someone put the Best PDF's link(see post #11) as a sticky, or in the resources section it can help EVERYONE... Thanks so much.. ;)

[urstwile]

Thanks aid. And that's a great idea about posting the Best PDFs article as a sticky. Resources section, perhaps?

This was a good quote from the second article:

Vicars said customer education is the best way to combat bad files. “If you don't tell them, they'll never know,” he said. “Most clients are willing to listen and learn. They know they can call me anytime, and I'm willing to work together with them. Also, our shop is big on preflight, which helps us flag PDFs before they become a problem plate or press run.”

We have a couple of vendors who just go and fix stuff and then don't tell me or the production manager that there were issues, they just fix them as a matter of course. I hate the feeling that I'm sending bad files, so I'll usually ask for a disk of the post-prepped files after a print job is complete, so I can learn from any mistakes I might have made, in case the printer isn't so inclined to share information that way. I know many printers have no problems with that, but some are so used to troubleshooting and fixing that they may not know that the person on the other end sending them the files has no idea that anything's wrong unless they tell them.

[aid4design]

Leavy is the good bud I refered to earlier, he is a solid dude. Cant tell you enough how important it is to us and lots of other fellow ppf.com users to continue to bridge that communication gap between designers and prepress. Sharing knowledge can be a very powerful tool. ;) unfortunately, like you said there are those printers out there who still like to horde information/knowledge so that they can charge for an alteration.. kinda sleezy IMHO. :)

[urstwile]

Although I'm sure some of them do it for sleazy reasons, others do it because they have an agreement with a client to have their files fixed should anything go wrong. When I was still working in pre-press, we had a few of these "premium" clients, where it was an unspoken thing to just fix typos in their files and other problems. We also used to QC their jobs the same way we would setting a job up from scratch. They knew they were being charged extra for it, and they were fine with it, as they were fairly large agencies with the money to spend for that extra loving care.

Now, being in an agency instead of pre-press, although I appreciate the attention when deadlines are really tight, at the same time, I feel like I'm not being alerted to the fact that things in fact needed to be fixed when the job hit the shop. Having worked in both worlds, I feel very out of the loop when it comes to pre-press stuff sometimes. :o

[aid4design]

you are most definately correct, I didnt mean to imply that they all do it for sleezy reasons... I apologize.. I, too, have a handful of customers at my day prepress job that I have been instructed to just go on with the alterations, note it on the job jacket, and move on.. time is money and sometimes it ends up costing more to kick it back to the customer than what gets charged to fix it and go on.. thanks for the clarification urst, it DID need it. ;)

[urstwile]

No harm done. I just thought it best to clarify. :)