Skip navigation
imacken
imacken
Currently Being Moderated

PDF sizes in Illustrator and Photoshop?

May 1, 2012 3:38 AM

Can someone explain to me about saving as pdfs in Illustrator and Photoshop?

For a long time, this is what I end up doing.

1) save my Illustrator AI file  (example 18Mb)

2) save it to pdf to send via email. File always ends up being as big as the AI file.

3) open the pdf in Photoshop, flatten image, then save it from PS to pdf again.

Then, the file is a manageable size to go out. (around 3Mb)

What step am I missing to avoid PS and get a small pdf from Illustrator?

Thanks.

2260 Views   24 Replies   Latest reply: Larry G. Schneider, May 4, 2012 9:30 AM
 
Replies
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    1. Jacob Bugge,
    May 1, 2012 4:46 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    imacken,

     

    You may Save As PDF with Preserve Illustrator editing capabilities unticked. IMMEDIATELY CLOSE THE DOCUMENT WITHOUT SAVING, TO AVOID DELETING YOUR LIVE NON PDF CONTENTS.

     

    Or you may Print to PDF (Acrobat Distiller). Especially keep an eye on the PostScript Level (set it to the highest available), and set the Acrobat Distiller>Properties>Adobe PDF Settings as needed (you may edit the ones shown).

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • c.pfaffenbichler
    Currently Being Moderated
    2. c.pfaffenbichler,
    May 1, 2012 4:47 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    And are you aware that converting the pdf in Photoshop loses the vector-data and searchable texts and the resulting pdf is basically no better than a simple jpg (or tiff depending on the compression settings)?

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Luke Jennings
    Currently Being Moderated
    3. Luke Jennings,
    May 1, 2012 5:02 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    If you open your PDF in Acrobat and optimize it, you can usually reduce the size. The settings can be adjusted to suit your needs, and the PDF can still be edited in Illustrator.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    4. imacken,
    May 1, 2012 7:23 AM   in reply to Luke Jennings
    Report

    Thanks guys.  Yes, I am aware I lose all vector data, etc. and that is what I want to do.  Is there no way of doing this in Illustrator without having to go through the extra PS steps?

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    5. Jacob Bugge,
    May 1, 2012 7:31 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    imacken,

     

    Yes, I am aware I lose all vector data, etc. and that is what I want to do.

     

    Often, changing from vector to raster (as in rasterizing) will result in (sometimes greatly) increased fil size.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    6. imacken,
    May 1, 2012 7:53 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Thanks Jacob. 

    Most of my AI files contain images, and I tend to flatten them for sending to publishers as adverts. All I want to do is avoid the PS steps in my workflow as it becomes a pain.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • c.pfaffenbichler
    Currently Being Moderated
    7. c.pfaffenbichler,
    May 1, 2012 11:20 PM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    and I tend to flatten them for sending to publishers as adverts.

    I work pre-press and the idea of rasterizing any vector content before sending it to be printed seems fairly unfortunate to me.

    And like I stated earlier a pdf converted in psd is no better than a jpg or tif, it does not even retain the trimbox- and bleedbox-information.

     

    I share in Jacob’s suspicion (post 1) that »Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities« may be a significant influence on the pdf’s file size for you – have you checked that out? 

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    8. imacken,
    May 2, 2012 12:27 AM   in reply to c.pfaffenbichler
    Report

    Thanks.

    Yes, I always have the 'preserve Illustrator editing capabilities' unchecked. Makes very little difference to the file size.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    9. Jacob Bugge,
    May 2, 2012 1:54 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    imacken,

     

    Yes, I always have the 'preserve Illustrator editing capabilities' unchecked. Makes very little difference to the file size.

     

    So have I, and it is true that the differnce is often insignificant.

     

    But have you tried the Print to PDF option? That is normally quite efficient.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    10. imacken,
    May 3, 2012 5:36 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Jacob, where is that option?  It's not obvious to me - but that doesn't mean anything!

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    11. Jacob Bugge,
    May 3, 2012 6:26 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    imacken,

     

    File>Print (or Ctrl/Cmd+P), then select Acrobat Distiller (or whatever they call it in your version) in the printer dropdown list if needed (I have it as the default printer for all applications).

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    12. imacken,
    May 3, 2012 8:21 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Still confused Jacob.  The only non-printer option I have in the printer dropdown list is 'Adobe Postscript File', and that's no good.

    Any ideas?

     

    (OT: I don't get notifications of replies from this forum even though I have it set on, any idea who I should contact?)

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    13. Jacob Bugge,
    May 3, 2012 8:36 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    imacken,

     

    Do you (not) have Acrobat?

     

    I don't get notifications of replies from this forum

     

    Have you ticked Yes in the relevant Your stuff>Your Preferences>Email Notification Preferences box, such as Automatically receive notifications for all discussions I create?

     

    If you have and it fails to work, you should Start a discussion in the Forum Comments Forum, and hope that John will see it soon.

     

    http://forums.adobe.com/community/general/forum_comments?view=discussi ons

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    14. imacken,
    May 3, 2012 10:23 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Thanks Jacob.  I presume you mean Acrobat Pro.  If so, then yes, I do have it installed.  Never used it, but it is there.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • RUB10
    Currently Being Moderated
    15. RUB10,
    May 3, 2012 11:02 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    When I took a class online we were asked to save our artwork as ‘smallest file size’ and make sure the editing capabilities checkbox was not checked. When saving PDF’s this way on Illustrator my files have always turned out very small. It does lower the quality of the image but if you need to upload the file on a site, download, email, etc, these settings have always worked best for me.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Mathias17
    439 posts
    Feb 20, 2012
    Currently Being Moderated
    16. Mathias17,
    May 3, 2012 11:39 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    You may Save As PDF with Preserve Illustrator editing capabilities unticked. IMMEDIATELY CLOSE THE DOCUMENT WITHOUT SAVING, TO AVOID DELETING YOUR LIVE NON PDF CONTENTS.

     

    I find it better to use File > Save a Copy, rather than Save As if you're worried about this.

    When I save out a PDF, I always use Save a Copy - it outputs a completely independant file and doesn't affect the one you have open.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    17. Jacob Bugge,
    May 3, 2012 3:16 PM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    Mathias,

     

    It is true that Save a copy is safer, but it changes the name to include copy, at least in 10.

     

     

     

    imacken,

     

    When you have Acrobat, it should be possible to use its printer (driver). I believe it is called Adobe PDF or PDF Printer in newer versions, and it should have settings to meet different demands.

     

    By the way, I was thinking of the second of the two Johns that have replies to the Forum Comments forum thread, John Cornicello who often posts under the Adobe Admin name; the first John is very helpful and vigilant, too. I had never seen the thread he referred to until I saw his link because it was hidden in another forum.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Mathias17
    439 posts
    Feb 20, 2012
    Currently Being Moderated
    18. Mathias17,
    May 3, 2012 5:13 PM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Sure, but simple enough to change the filename in the dialogue, which you'd probably want to do anyway. I normally need to anyway, since usually saving out a proof PDF or something.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    19. imacken,
    May 4, 2012 1:46 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Jacob, no PDF printer option at all.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    20. Jacob Bugge,
    May 4, 2012 2:37 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    Now this is strange, imacken.

     

    I wonder whether there is something that should be done to install/enable it during installation of Acrobat.

     

    There must be something you can do now to install the printer (driver). Have you looked into the subject in the Helpfiles?

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Jacob Bugge
    Currently Being Moderated
    21. Jacob Bugge,
    May 4, 2012 2:47 AM   in reply to Mathias17
    Report

    Mathias,

     

    I see your point. Except for very rare cases, I prefer to have the same  PDF and AI name.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • imacken
    Currently Being Moderated
    22. imacken,
    May 4, 2012 6:10 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
    Report

    Jacob, nothing in the help files.  This is on Mac OS X, yes?

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • PrepressPro1
    Currently Being Moderated
    23. PrepressPro1,
    May 4, 2012 8:19 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    You might want to try opening the PDF you save out of Illustrator in Acrobat instead of Photoshop and running it through the Preflight engine. Menu>Advanced>Print Production>Preflight. Try using the Online Publishing (optimized for size) setting. This will down sample the raster data and keep the vector data in the file. You can also save your own presets based on the existing presets if you want to balance quality and file size to taste.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Larry G. Schneider
    Currently Being Moderated
    24. Larry G. Schneider,
    May 4, 2012 9:30 AM   in reply to imacken
    Report

    If you are on 10.6.x or 10.7.x then it requires a lot of fumbling around to get the PDF printer reestablished on a Mac. Probably not worth the trouble.

     
    |
    Mark as:
Actions

More Like This

  • Retrieving data ...

Bookmarked By (0)

Answers + Points = Status

  • 10 points awarded for Correct Answers
  • 5 points awarded for Helpful Answers
  • 10,000+ points
  • 1,001-10,000 points
  • 501-1,000 points
  • 5-500 points