Reducing PDF file size

[Barry Kelly]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a program that can reduce the size of a PDF file that is created from Archicad by Publishing?

Preferably one that is free or maybe shareware.
I have tried two so far (PDF Compress 1.0 & PDFCompressor 1.12) but both just slightly increased the file size.
I'm having trouble at the moment getting to the download for Arcrobat 9.0 to trial it.
Even if it does work I can't see the company wanting to get 80 odd licenses just to make the file size smaller.

Publishing as a PDF from Archicad is very convenient (set up once - publish often).
Printing the same file as a PDF using the old Amyunii PDF converter results in a file about 1/3 the size but then there are issues of ensuring the printer is set up correctly, landscape and portrait pages must be printed separately, file path and name needs to be selected each time as it is not stored as in the publisher.

So publishing is my preferred option.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Barry.

[Barry Kelly]

Thomas wrote:
Also, you might experiment with using Acrobat Pro's Reduce file size set to compatibility with an old Adobe version, such as Acrobat 5 or older. This would also remove transparency.

I have just tried Acrobat and it can indeed reduce the file size.
Aving as Acrobat 5 resulted in a file of 744 KB (down from 1419 KB).
And as Acrobat 8 resulted in a file of 725 KB.

Chazz wrote:
Barry, Even though I doubt Acrobat Pro would help with this situation (though Quartz might), it is a vital part of our workflow (we have hundreds of licenses of CS4 here) and am not sure how, exactly you have survived without it to date.?

I don't think we have a need for CS4 - seems a bit of overkill just to reduce a PDF file size.
We are predominately producing construction plans for residential houses.
Archicad seems to handle that quite well.
It is just someone noticed the PDF file size has increased from previous versions and as we have offices all over the sout-west of the state, they are blaming for the slowing down of our network trafic.

Chazz wrote:
80+ AC licenses, no Mac's and not a single copy of CS4? Are you writing from the public terminal at the Western Australia State Penitentiary?

You caught me out

Barry.

[Chazz]

Pretty sure the process could be automated (I know it could on a Mac) whereby files are saved into a watched folder on a file server and get reduced and saved to another directory. I think distiller does this out of the box. No need for 80 licenses.

These files are pretty small but it sounds like you have a lot of them. Our typical deliverable package is between 25 and 50 MB. Storage is so cheap and bandwidth so vast that I must admit I don't reduce the files unless there are special circumstances. Now you're making me feel guilty.

[Barry Kelly]

Chazz wrote:
Storage is so cheap and bandwidth so vast that I must admit I don't reduce the files unless there are special circumstances. Now you're making me feel guilty.

Out here in the Colony we are still using two Coke cans and a piece of string.

[Anonymous]

We used to dream of coke cans and a piece of string (said with a Yorkshire accent, ala Monty Python)

[Jefferson]

Barry -

Lots has been written about this.......I ended up printing to Acrobat Pro instead of Amyuni and although slower to yield the files sizes were signinficantlly smaller, usually about 1/2, using the same DPI. As Thomas said it almost always comes down to fills, [shaded elevations were killing me with the wrong kind of dot type fill.], but still the output size of Amyuni is over the top for my work anyway, particularly if your emailing to clients. And then there's printing issues.........

Give my way a try and see how it goes for you.......before they catch you and lock you up again