Large File Sizes when converting Photoshop 7 to PDF's

[Tracey Harris]

Can someone help - I'm trying to convert a Photoshop 7 file to PDF by saving within Photoshop. I've changed it to RGB, flattened and changed the resolution. It either comes out fine but in a really large size, or fuzzy. Should I upgrade to In-Design, or am I doing something stupid????

[Wolfgang]

Hi,

this may be no real help, but I never did save PDFs from Photoshop.
Like you said, it gives bad and big results.

It seems to be better with CS2 now, but it's never as good as when I make the PDF with Acrobat.
Of course, you need to have the full version of Acrobat for this :-(

If you don't have it and you don't want to buy one, try one of the Freeware programs for creating PDFs.
I seem to remember that there is one called "Ghostscript" or "CutePDF".
They worked pretty good for text but not perfectly for graphics.

Still better than the Photoshop-Export though.

Hope that helped at least a bit.

Wolfgang

[tg4]

I, too, experience the same problem. But I'm starting to think that the reason the pdf files are so big is because the original psd files that I am converting (to pdfs) are huge too, and this is because they are bitmap images...

Is it correct to think that if I used a vector based program (like illustrator) that the SAME converted pdfs (from the illustrator "eps" file instead of psd) would be much smaller with the same quality and clarity? Is this true? Please help, because I need much smaller pdfs that I can email etc. and right now my pdfs are 30+ megs.

thank you!

[remi]

PDF is able to save vector graphics and bitmap images in the same file. So, it depends on you, how you produces your PDF files:

• If you uses a vector graphic editor like Adobe Illustrator or Xara Xtreme and creates a vector graphic with some rectangles or a little bit text, than the PDF file is a small one, because the vector graphic editor is able to save the objects together with some small attributes.
• If you produces bitmap images with a bitmap editor like Adobe Photoshop and exports these images in a PDF file, the PDF is as big as your bitmap images. The only way to reduce the file size of a PDF with a included bitmap, is to reduce the resolution (DPI) of the bitmaps during the PDF export.

Hope, that helps clear things up.

Regards,
Remi

[tg4]

thanks for your reply. That does help, but I guess I don't truly understand how Illustrator works (I'll get it and play with it)... Does it save all work as vector objects? I opened a pdf in acrobat viewer that was originally an eps file (I think from Quark) and it was only 3 megs (it has many bitmap images in the file along with other objects that I assume are vector objects). When I open this in photoshop and resave it as a pdf file in photoshop it is 33 megs! I believe I understand the reason for this: it's because photoshop rasterizes the file upon opening it and resaves it as a bitmap, which is much bigger (and the previous eps file was saved as one big vector image--is this right?). Here's my question: If I get illustrator, and start creating the same file in illustrator, will it by default save this file as a vector file and therefore be much smaller? Is it that simple, or do I need to be careful in how I create the file once using illustrator? (Thanks, I'm a vector newb...)

[remi]

thanks for your reply. That does help, but I guess I don't truly understand how Illustrator works (I'll get it and play with it)... Does it save all work as vector objects?

The simple answer is yes. But in reality it depends on the objects you use to create your illustration: Adobe Illustrator, Xara Xtreme, Corel Draw or Macromedia Freehand are modern vector graphic editors, which are also able to import bitmap images into a drawing. And some of these vector graphic editors allows bitmap operations on vector objects. If you creates drawings with such objects, then the vector editor has to create a PDF file with some vector objects and some bitmap graphics too, to reproduce the bitmap effects. The size of such a PDF file depends on the size of the (included) bitmap graphics and on the quality of the PDF export function of the vector editor package. Please take a look at the section "PDF export" of this site and the two example PDF files to see the quality differences from vector editors, which supports the newest features of the current PDF version.

I opened a pdf in acrobat viewer that was originally an eps file (I think from Quark) and it was only 3 megs (it has many bitmap images in the file along with other objects that I assume are vector objects). When I open this in photoshop and resave it as a pdf file in photoshop it is 33 megs! I believe I understand the reason for this: it's because photoshop rasterizes the file upon opening it and resaves it as a bitmap, which is much bigger (and the previous eps file was saved as one big vector image--is this right?).

Yes, that's right. For example: If you creates a rectangle in a vector editor, the rectangle is saved as a single object together with a small set of attributes in the PDF file (x/y-Position, width, height, fill-color, ...) - regardless how big the rectangle is. If you creates a rectangle in a bitmap editor, all the points underneath the rectangle are filled with the choosen color of the rectangle and every pixel in the bitmap needs to save in the PDF file. If you creates a big rectangle, there are millions of pixels to save in a bitmap image, but only one object in a vector file.

Here's my question: If I get illustrator, and start creating the same file in illustrator, will it by default save this file as a vector file and therefore be much smaller? Is it that simple, or do I need to be careful in how I create the file once using illustrator? (Thanks, I'm a vector newb...)

If you creates simple vector drawings, the vector editor is able to save your drawing as small vector objects by a fraction of the size of a bitmap image. If you creates richer vector drawings, it depends on the technique, you use to create the images.

see also:

• Wikipedia article about Vector graphics
• Wikipedia article about Raster graphics (bitmap images)

Regards,
Remi

[sallybode]

Since there is usually a free trial download for Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW and also for Xara, I'd suggest, download one at a time, play with it and evaluate each for its ease of use, price and overall features.

InDesign is capable of doing some drawings, if you are new to graphic arts, it is like a person learning to read attempting to read Tolstoy to start out.

There are many tutorials on line for the software mentioned above. For Xara, there is the XaraXone and also it comes with many video tutorials that help you get up and running.

Of the vector software, Xara has the simplest interface and is the easiest to learn. It is also the least expensive.

[easybullet3]

FLATTEN ALL YOUR LAYERS BEFORE SAVING AS A PDF!!!

also: if its not for print, you can change the dpi to 72.

also: no need for your photoshop file to be greater than about 20inches wide. (check your image size and reduce it (proportionally) to 20 inches wide (or less).

once this is done, and image is flattened. then save as a PDF,,,

unless its for print, then you can save it as 4 to 7 quality. (no need for maximim quality).

the final file will be just a few megabytes. and will look 100% perfect when viewed on a screen.