Workarounds and advice for getting a PDF file down to size.
My PDF is 4,041KB. When I added the word "DRAFT' on every page (800
pages total) using Document -> Add Headers & Footers, the file size
became HUGE, 160,041KB. I tried to do a "save as." No help, same big file size.
How can I get it back down to size? –
Brian Chan
You might try re-postscripting the .pdf file and then
distilling it again. –Dino
Hoke
I suspect two things. 1) The Acrobat header/footer code
isn't very smart about reuse across pages, and 2) you chose a font that is large
and header/footer doesn't subset. As for re-postscripting, the process of
re-frying a PDF (conversion back to Postscript and then running that PS through
Distiller) is no longer approved by Adobe due to the wide variety of PDF
features that can NOT be represented in Postscript. You should use native PDF
tools to correct any issues with PDFs. –
Leonard Rosenthol
OK, so you turn around and tell your client that his
job won't run in the next 30 minutes and he's going to miss his plane because
Adobe doesn't approve. If it works -- who care's? –Dino Hoke
Ah, but it doesn't work in many cases - and in fact,
you may end up making things WORSE by refrying the document....hence the words
from Adobe. But hey - if you want to keep hammering in that nail with a
screwdriver - be my guest. –Leonard
Rosenthol
I changed the font from Arial to Helvetica, and the
file size came down quite a bit, from 160,000 KB to 60,000 KB. However, 60,000
KB is still unacceptable. My workaround is I used Acrobat 4 to add the word
"DRAFT" in my document. The file size stays the same using Acrobat 4. –Brian Chan
You could also do it using the other stamping features
of Acrobat or a 3rd party tool. –Leonard
Rosenthol
Editor's note: For unedited, unlimited tips delivered to your e-mail box,
sign up here. The editors and owners of PDFzone.com do not
necessarily share the opinions of discussion board posters and do not endorse
any particular software product(s) or vouch for accuracy in descriptions of how
a particular piece of software (or feature) works.