: How do I reduce .pdf file sizes? I had to add bleeds and enlarge an eight-page complex PDF. Traditional methods of working directly in Adobe or within InDesign were not feasible. I had to

@Ravi4787994

When you save your file from illustrator to pdf make sure unckheck illustrater editing capabilities, embed page thumbnails. Also check compression to downloadable sample to 150dpi.Make sure the pictures used are also to a minimal size (image size).

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@Lee3735518

This may be pretty helpful!

I had a really large document just 2 pages but the file included a lot of clipping masks and transparencies.(at 25MB) What I do is rasterize the whole page and then save it as PDF/X-1a:2001. Because, I find that if you don't rasterize it, you will see the outline of your text boxes and if you place a png you may see the border around the image... just didn't feel comfortable with those this lines.. So after doing those steps, the file was down to 5000kb. Much better!!

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@Correia448

In my experience the large file size is due to Illustrator saving extra data help the file be easily editable when you re-open it. The most reliable method I have found for getting rid of this data is to save the file from Illustrator as a .eps or .pdf, and then open the file in a program call "Inkscape" (https://inkscape.org/en/download/). From Inkscape I re-save the file. The majority of the time this removes most of the extra data (I tried doing this to two example files on my computer and it turned a 30MB file into a 10MB file and a 2.60 MB file into a 0.29MB file). This method is not perfect and will not always reduce the file size to what I know the file size should be.

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@Tiffany317

This is a little cumbersome, but works for me sometimes. It should lower the file size and allow you to retain the ability to select/copy/paste text in PDF:


Separate all text from image layers in AI file. Turn off text layers.
Open document in PS to flatten and save each page to a separate PSD or JPEG file. Be sure to select Crop To: Bleed Box.
Go back to AI and turn text layers on and image layers off. If there is lots of overlap or effects on text, you may need to place some on image layers.
Place AI file (now only text) and PSD files into ID.
Export ID as PDF. File size should be much lower.


If you aren't worried about the text being selectable, you can open the PDF directly in PS and eliminate the step of separating the text from the image layers in AI (being sure to Crop To: Bleed Box) for each page. Just place each flattened file into the INDD and then export to PDF.

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@XinRu324

The best compression technique I use for making PDF's smaller without loosing quality is saving it using the Adobe PDF Preset: PDF/X-1a:2001.



How it makes the file smaller is by defining a set of rules that forbid the use of certain PDF functions that are irrelevant for printing purposes and to enforce others that do improve its usefulness in prepress.

For more information you can read: kwikkopydc.com/tenley/2012/03/for-best-results-learn-how-to-create-pdfx-1a-files/

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