Aerial photo file size

[domer1322]

I import a large aerial photo (pdf format) from our City GIS system, and put it on a layer with another layer for the building on top of it. Then I make a viewport, and generate a pdf file from the viewport. The resulting pdf file is so huge that I can't email it. Often the file size is over 25 meg. Is there a way to do this and make the file size much smaller ?

(PS: I've tried changing the sheet layer resolution and the pdf file export resolution, but that usually doesn't make any difference.)

[bcd]

try this:

[cad@sggsa]

I have mentioned this before but will add in here.

VW2012 is now set to create Huge files when Creating PDF or any other form of Export compared to say VW12.5

To get a good looking Rendered image you cant downsample and end up with a +/-15MB - 20MB file. VW12.5 created a 1.5MB file with the same clarity and detail when printed.

What you could do is to download GIMP, Open the PDF in it, save as a JPEG and then save that image as a PDF again using one of the many PDF creators which will make it +/-500KB

[domer1322]

bcd: thanks for the help bcd, but it doesn't seem to work on VW 2011, using Windows XP Pro. Using downsample rates of 36 dpi and 72 dpi resulted in the same pdf file size (28Meg)

cad@sggsa: thanks for confirming this problem isn't just me. Also: the GIMP solution might work, but i was hoping for an easier way to fix this within VW .... the GIMP solution doesn't work if I have several viewports on different sheets with this issue. Too time consuming, many files.

[bcd]

What size is the original photo pdf?

Can you reduce that before import?

Are you enlarging that within VW?

Can you do that externally?

Can you import as a jpg?

What's the file size if you export without the image?

I'd give all these a try. Sorry the previous solution didn't work.

[Dillon]

if you have acrobat pro, you can use "reduce file size" there. not the solution you want, but its what I do for that same problem with aerial photos.

[Miguel Barrera]

If the pdf file is large due to the original drawing size, another trick is to print to a free pdf writer to the sheet size needed, which will reduce the file size and will get rid of any metadata that may be attached to the pdf.

In acrobat pro, you can may also be able to reduce the file size by using the "Optimize Scanned pdf" menu even for a regular pdf.

[cad@sggsa]

I found the best way to reduce file size of PDF is to save as for internet use.

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S

[domer1322]

thanks for the help ...

cad@sggsa: I tried your hotkey 'save for internet use' technique but did not get the proper dialog box. Is there a menu to do that ?

Miguel and invertasse: your solution worked the best ... and very well, if there is a single sheet. What if I have multiple sheets?

I guess i can make many individual pdf files and then combine them together into a single file, but i was hoping there was a more convenient and elegant way to do it inside of VW. I'm hoping VW is monitoring this thread and figures out a way to solve this problem on the next version.