Abnormal PDF File Size

c2hubbard

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Aug 29, 2003, 10:36:00 AM8/29/03

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Using Acrobat 5.0, I have created dozens of PDF files from Word documents (Windows 2000 Pro/ Word 2002) In all cases, except one, the PDF file size and the Word file size are roughly equivalent. In the case of the exception, the PDF file is almost twice the size of the Word file. So,

a) Does this necessarily indicate a problem with the Word doc and/or the PDF file?
b) If so, any suggestions as to what I should look for as the cause?

Suzanne Cole

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Aug 29, 2003, 10:41:32 AM8/29/03

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a) No, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem, but it's too early to tell.

b) With the PDF open in Acrobat, go to the Tools menu, select PDF Consultant, and choose Audit Space Usage. What does the result contain?

Nathan Strong

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Aug 31, 2003, 5:27:42 PM8/31/03

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Does your Word file contain any semitransparent text or images?

When Word sends transparent images to Distiller, it does so by breaking the image into hundreds of tiny images. This causes the PDF file size to be huge.

To fix it, flatten any transparencies in your document before you print to Distiller.

Nathan

Rusty Castleman

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Aug 31, 2003, 9:50:50 PM8/31/03

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I have a similar problem, but my pdf files are roughly 2x larger than the doc file (Windows 2000). This seems to be a font issue as 74% of the file size is due to 'fonts' (as reported by auditor). Even when I combine 6 different files, all using the same fonts, and all from the same base Word template, the pdf file is still 2x the original doc files, and there is no apparent savings for the fonts, as 72% of the doc is still 'fonts'.

What am I doing wrong? Are the fonts embeded in the file? Is this the normal way to do it, or am I missing something?

Aandi Inston

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Sep 1, 2003, 4:05:56 AM9/1/03

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Yes, fonts are embedded in the PDF.

Here is one thought: if you are going to be routinely combining your
PDF files, go into your Job Options and switch OFF the "font subset"
option. That will make the original PDFs bigger, but as they are
combined, there may be savings, because there won't be duplicated
fonts.

Bear in mind when measuring sizes, not to work with files that are too
small. For instance, a 4K word document may definitely get bigger
because even a single font is 10K-50K. But that still isn't a large
PDF. Look instead at what happens with large Word documents.

Aandi Inston

c2hubbard

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Sep 3, 2003, 12:23:03 PM9/3/03

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Thanks for the tip about the PDF Consultant-Audit Space Usage! It was most enlightening, revealing that unknown elements comprised roughly one-third of the file. When I checked this against my other, successful PDF files, this percentage was way out of range.

So, assuming that this is my problem, how do I fix it? Any suggestions as to what to look for in the base Word 2002 DOC file that might be causing this hiccup in the conversion to PDF?

Carmen Gimeno

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Sep 3, 2003, 10:17:55 PM9/3/03

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Nathan..... u r a champion!!!! thankyou I just tried your suggestion and it worked. My problem was that I had a draft watermark created in WordArt which had transparency on the problem I was having was that it was taking way toooo long to convert to PDF and once it did convert I had problems printing the PDF file.... u just solved it.... thanks!!!!