How To Reduce File Size/Compress a PDF

[bqxmprij]

I routinely need to upload .pdf files and sometimes there are limits to the file size a system will accept. For instance, this forum will not accept a file that is over 5MB. I have attached a .pdf of an excerpt of a magazine. This magazine was 124 pages long and 50+ MB in file size. The full magazine is at http://issuu.com/saltmagazineaustralia/ ... nter14_web. You can download it first by selecting "share," then selecting download.

The excerpt is only a few pages but representative. Many of the pages include hyper-linked images and probably other code behind the images that add to the overall file size.

Is there a way to remove all non-visual elements (e.g., remove all hyperlinks, remove all metadata, remove all of anything that adds to file size but not the visual appearance)?

The second question is this: is there a way to compress the overall file size without substantially effecting the legibility? In other words, does PDF-XChange Editor provide the functionality to reduce the overall file size without effecting (too much) how the pdf displays?

If different, can you answer the second question about compressing/reducing the overall file size with a .pdf formed by scanning? Sometimes I receive .pdf files that are from scans at a ridiculously high dpi. Can PDF-XChange Editor reduce/compress these files without substantially altering the visual appearance/readability?

Thanks.

[Patrick-Tracker Supp]

Thanks for the post, bqxmprij-

PDF-Tools has a Simple Optimization feature that, while not compression, can sometimes reduce the file size significantly by removing irrelevant data from the file. How much of a reduction you'll get is completely dependant upon the file.

The only way to actually compress a PDF with our products, would be to print to one of our Drivers - PDF-XChange Lite doesn't have compression options available from within the preferences, but it does give an inherent compression. PDF-XChange Standard, on the other hand, does have compression, image down-sampling and font embedding options that can often allow for significant file size reduction. I would recommend that you give Standard a try (link below) and play around with printing your PDF to the driver and seeing if the you can get a good level of compression:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/PDFX5SA.zip
**Note: this download would be purely for testing purposes, as a license for PDF-Tools does not unlock the 'PRO' features of the Standard driver and, as such, will watermark any documents that you print to it (the source file will remain unmarked).

Unfortunately, even this method of compression is completely dependant up the Windows Printer GDI and what it allows, so what settings may end up giving me a great compression level in Windows 8, may not give you the same level of compression in Windows 7 (if you're using Win 7).

Cheers, let me know how this goes!

[bqxmprij]

So I typed up a really long explanation of what I did to try this, but the forum logged me out (without warning) but still let me type. That really sucked. Here is the short version:

1. Printing with PDF-XChange Editor to PDF-XChange Printer 2012 did not work. The printer crashed twice, after hanging for 10-15 minutes. Printing files from PDF-XChange Editor is so frequently problematic for me that I just default to opening a file with Acrobat if I want to print it. I tried it a third time just to confirm. It is really weird how Adobe prints fast and fine with PDF-XChange Printer 2012, but PDF-XChange Editor takes forever and then the print job crashes.

2. Printing from Acrobat to PDF-XChange Printer 2012 worked without a problem and in under 2 minutes. I changed options under the PDF-XChange Printer 2012 tabs of Compression, Graphics and Fonts using .jpeg quality of 25%, bicubic downsampling, and never embedding fonts. That got the document from 52,174 KB to 15,702 KB. So, thank you for your comments.

3. The PDF-Tools gave me evaluation water marks. Not cool because I have a license, and re-installed the entire package when the new license format came out. I currently have PDF-XChange Editor 308.0. I don't use PDF-Tools much, so any tips for fixing this issue when 309 comes out would be appreciated.

4. The "help" button on PDF-Tools references V3 ("Thank you for choosing PDF-Tools V3.x PDF-Tools 4.x is an easy-to-use end-user wizard for...").

5. Can you provide any comments on when PDF-XChange Printer 2012. It is obviously about 2 years old. It seems to work great, but things can always work better.

Thanks.

[Will - Tracker Supp]

Hi bqxmprij,

Thanks for the post - I would strongly suggest that you update to build 308.2, as there was a known issue with the initial release of PDF-Tools not working correctly with the new serial key regime. This may also fix the issue with printing that you have.

Download: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/PDFXVE5.zip

4. The "help" button on PDF-Tools references V3 ("Thank you for choosing PDF-Tools V3.x PDF-Tools 4.x is an easy-to-use end-user wizard for...").

Thanks for the info. - I will forward this along.

5. Can you provide any comments on when PDF-XChange Printer 2012. It is obviously about 2 years old. It seems to work great, but things can always work better.

Currently the Editor is the primary focus of the Development team, so any major overhauls will likely take place after the Editor is up to speed. Please do be aware though, that PDF-Tools is likely to be the next on our list to undergo serious change.

Cheers,

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

Build 309 of the Editor introduces PDF Optimizer plugin (File -> Save As Optimized Copy...).
Your file with default settings has been reduced from 1475940 bytes to 915980 bytes (almost 40% less).

[Robert13]

Now that I have learned about the PDF Optimizer plugin, I have tried using it. When it works it works great, but 3 out of 5 times I have tried it, it has crashed editor and then editor restarted. What am I doing wrong? I have tried it with single page documents and multi-page. I have not found a pattern as of yet on when it will cause a crash.
I have attached a file that has caused the crash.

Thanks

[Will - Tracker Supp]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the post and sample - that's strange, this is the first document I've seen the optimization crash on, but I managed to recreate the crash on the file, so I've created an internal Development ticket to help track the progress of the issue. The ticket number is RT-2653, so please reference this when requesting updates to the status of the ticket.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding!

[Robert13]

I just tried it again with a different document and the optimized copy is larger
I was going to upload both but each is over the 5 meg limit.

[Will - Tracker Supp]

Hi Robert,

If the files are too large, could you try sending them to support@pdf-xchange.com, with a link back to this topic? We'll need the originals before optimization and the files after they were optimized, if possible.

If they are too large to send them via email, you could try uploading to our public FTP:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgeba ... FTP-server

Also, could you zip and send a screen-shot of the Image optimization and font optimization settings you used?

Cheers,

[gptognola]

Hi,
I also have the same problem, with some documents the program stops working when I try to "save optimized copy" (optimizing around 85%). I enclose two examples.
Kind regards,
Gp

[Will - Tracker Supp]

Hi guys,

Robert - thanks for the files. They were received and the issue will be tested ASAP.

gptognola - Thanks for the samples too, I will test with these and advise further, as soon as I'm able, most likely Tuesday, as Monday is a holiday here in Canada.

Cheers,

[desertdad]

I have the same requirement, reduce large PDF file sizes. I'm using a Win8.1-32bit system. I already have PDF X-Change Editor ver 5.5, build 312.1 installed. I am currently using PDF Saver LITE ver 5.5, build 311, Win8 Home Edition build 9200. From previous entries in this thread, I think I need to switch to PDF-XChange Standard to get the size reduction capabilities. My question is whether I need to uninstall the LITE printer before I install the STD version? If I uninstall LITE, can I then use the download mentioned previously (even though it will put overlays on the output) to see if it will achieve what I'm looking for? I can always reinstall LITE if it doesn't. I really don't want to spend $44 only to find out it wasn't successful.
I'm working with a PDF file I did not create, 14,935KB and I'm trying to get it below 10mb. The file is a printed report from an engineering company. Do you have recommendations for a first cut at reducing large files and what should my expectations be?
TIA Dick Israels

[Radi - Tracker Supp]

Hello richard israels,

Welcome to the forum.
Did you see the discussed above feature of the PDF-XChange Editor, File -> Save Optimized Copy? You might give it a go, it has quite some options to optimize your file.
The PDF-XChange Lite and Standard printing drivers are independent installations and can exist simultaneously on you computer, there is no need to delete Lite.
As of your file optimizations, I think your best bet is to reduce a document's pictures size. If a documents contains a lot of pictures, reducing their quality and / or dpi should result in very good size reduction.

Regards,
Radi