[PDF] PDF Contains X Object Forms. What Are They?

[k c]

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Hello All

In the interest of making a PDF smaller, I ran (in Acrobat 8
Professional) Audit Space Usage under PDF Optimizer.

It tells me that 97.15% of the PDF is comprised of X Ojbect Forms. I'd
like to make the PDF smaller, but I have no idea what an X Object Form
is, hence I don't know where to look for space savings.

Can someone give me some insight on X Object Forms?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Kenn

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[Dov Isaacs]

The PDF list is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com
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"Forms xObjects" are named groups of graphical objects
within a PDF file. They don't necessarily have anything
to do with forms. Typically, "forms xObjects" are used by
applications generating PDF (such as Illustrator and InDesign)
as a means of avoiding multiple definitions of the same
graphical content. Use of "forms xObjects" often indicates
that much file size optimization has already been performed!

Generally speaking, your space savings is not going to come
from anything to do with "forms xObjects." If 97.15% of your
PDF file was image data, then you would have some possibility
of space savings that could be achieved either by downsampling
or different compression (both of which could result in
significant quality loss).

You don't indicate how big your existing PDF file is and what
type of content it contains. It may be that there isn't a
possibility for significant PDF file reduction. Provide some
more information and perhaps we can assist you better.

- Dov