Distill vs. Export PDF from InDesign

[Gary_...@adobeforums.com]

I produce a newsletter that is distributed as downloadable PDFs. We don't use much in the way of transparency or effects because we need to keep the file size low. So my workflow has been to print to PS and distill, which works well for our purposes.

Now we wish to incorporate hyperlinks on the pages, creating problems I have yet to resolve.

A distilled PDF loses all the hyperlinks (although, oddly, hyperlinks embedded in the text of an import Word file are retained, and I can discern no difference between these and those I create in ID).

An exported PDF retains all the hyperlink data, but the file size balloons to more than twice the equivalent distilled PDF.

Is there a way to either make an exported PDF equivalent in size to a distilled one? Or, is there a way to force the retention of hyperlinks in a distilled PDF?

[Dov Isaacs]

You don't say which version of InDesign you are running, but there was indeed a "bloat" problem with the PDF export from InDesign 4.x. That bloat problem does not exist with PDF exported from InDesign 5.x (CS3) or 6 (CS4). And no, there is no way to retain hyperlinks in PDF created by distillation of PostScript from InDesign. InDesign's preferred method of PDF creation is via direct export.

- Dov

[Gary_...@adobeforums.com]

I'm using CS4.

1. What are the things one can do within ID's settings to get an exported PDF as close in size as possible to a distilled one?

2. I place a Word doc that includes embedded hyperlinks in my ID doc, select the hyperlinked text and examine its attributes. I compare to some text to which I set a hyperlink manually, and can find no difference. Yet when I distill the PostScript to PDF, the hyperlinks are retained in the PDF. Any idea why this is?

[Dov Isaacs]

Last things first! Hyperlinks are not passed through to PDF via the PostScript route. However, Acrobat and Reader do have a feature, on by default, that recognizes text that looks like hyperlinks and treats such text as a hyperlink.

Using comparable joboptions should give comparable results between direct PDF export and distillation of PostScript. What could make a difference is whether ICC color profiles are embedded in the resultant PDF file via export. Having said that, such profiles lead to higher reliability and should be so-embedded. Beyond that, we would need to know your joboptions exactly and also see thre original InDesign document and resultant PDF files.

- Dov

[Bill_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi. I'm new to Adobe Photoshop CS3 and to this forum. I've been instructed to send wash drawings as a single pdf sized at 8.5" x 11" under 4MB. Heretofore I've always used jpegs. Is that easily done? Thank you.

[Michael Kazlow]

Yes. Please re-ask in the Photoshop forum on how to do this.

Mike