PDF Export Sizes

[Matt J]

Hi there,

 

I am having issues with my pdf exports in that they are coming out at big sizes like 86mb, when they should be around 860kb!

 

My colleagues are running the same Vectorworks version (2023), but when they open the file (which is around 20mb in size) and export to pdf they are getting suitable document sizes that we can easily email to clients. We therefore think it must be a problem with my Vectorworks setup but we cannot seem to locate it, having compared which boxes we have ticked during export etc.

 

It also makes for slow opening of these pdfs, which seem to load in a layer at a time, from background to foreground, and quite slowly at that!

 

Thanks,
Matt

[Pat Stanford]

Two thoughts:

 

1. Do you and your colleague have different DPI Settings or different export options?

2. One of the export options is Rasterize PDF.  This exports a (potentially high DPI) image file instead of the lines normally exported.  If you have this checked and he does not that could make the difference.

 

HTH

[Matt J]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks very much for your reply.

 

As far as I can tell, all of our settings are the same - exporting at 300dpi with rasterize PDF turned off.

 

 

Regards,

Matt

[Pat Stanford]

The other difference could be are you both Exporting the same way? Or is one of you just Printing to PDF instead?

 

I don't know why you are getting different results with the same settings, but you not doing any File Size Reduction could be part of the issue, especially if you have high resolution images or textures in the file.

[mjm]

as a last-ditch option (which I use semi-frequently) this link https://smallpdf.com/compress-pdf will allow one free compression a day, with great results, in my experience. If I did more than the occasional compression, I'd consider subscribing.

Also-I have never needed to use their offer of super high compression, the default always brings the pdf way way down in size without losing much quality at all. 

[Matt J]

Thanks guys, that's really helpful.

 

Pat, I'm afraid to add to the confusion, we appear to use exactly the same process.

 

I am today hopefully going to go through mine and theirs just to make sure that everything is the same, but any other thoughts would be appreciated.

 

It is getting to the point now where I am close to just reinstalling the whole program!

 

Matt

[Matt J]

Hello all,

 

Thanks for help and advice so far.

 

I have now reinstalled the whole program, and reset it to factory settings but the issue is still there...

 

I have compared my settings in PDF Export, in Vectorworks Preferences and in Document Preferences to my colleauge's, but sadly no joy.

 

I am currently testing print to pdf rather than export to pdf.

 

Is there anything else I can try?!

[line-weight]

Vectorworks exporting huge PDFs has been a problem for ages and it's very frustrating that it never gets addressed, along with the fact that colours get altered in certain forms of export as well. PDF is now the main way that information is issued and it really shouldn't be like this.

 

Do you get a different result if you use "publish" instead of "export to PDF"?

[line-weight]

 

Have you checked that "default compression" is the same? I've found that changing between JPG & PNG can have a significant effect on file size.

[line-weight]

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