fresh files

[MrTemplate]

i have been working on a drawing for some time now. i wish to "export" it into a new VW file (and "slim" the new file) so that, while containing the resources and text in the working drawing, the new file size is as small as possible. (then i can email it out to folks).

is there a "best" method to do this? right now i'm importing all of the resources from working to new, and then copying and pasting the drawing from the working file to the new file.

i have also had limited success using workgroup references. and i've also exported/imported using vectorscripts. but i presume that this 2nd and 3rd method won't decrease the "new" file size.

is there a preferred method that will guarantee in reducing file size?

thanks

[MrTemplate]

indeed i can do this. i'm a little leery of the permanence of the purge command. beyond that, tho, was wondering (hoping?) if there was any other way to "slim down" a file utilizing one of the other methods that i'd mentioned. (or any other i'm unaware of?)

can you tell me if the other methods have no affect in decreasing file size? is purge the only way to go?

thanks

[Guest]

Well, if you have resources in the file that you aren't using such as classes, layers, symbols, hatches etc, and you want these files gone, purging is the safest way to do so. Especially if you do the purge in a copy of the original file. If the purge does something you didn't anticipate, you will still have the original in which you can copy and try the purge again.

The purge command allows you to select the types of objects to purge, not just all objects not used in the document. You really can't go wrong with it.

I don't know how else you want to slim down the file. As long as the drawing is there in the file, you can't slim the size of the file down. There is no way to compress objects in a drawing, only the physical file itself with compression software such as WinZip or Drop Stuff, or any of the other compression utilities out there.

You can copy the drawing layer by layer to another document, but depending on how many layers you have, this can be a time consuming process, not to mention it opens the door for human error. You may accidentally forget to copy a layer.

Workgroup reference won't do you any good in this situation. The file is being sent to a remote location. For workgroup ref to work, you'd need to send the original file as well.

Purging is really the best route to take.

Once you've made a copy of the file, purge it and save the file (with the new name of course).

Then use a compression program, such as one of the ones above - or you can find others at cnet.com/downloads - and compress the file. The VW file should compress a good bit, which will make emailing alot less painful.

[Guest]

Why don't you just make a copy of the file with a different name, open it in VW and purge unused resources?

[MrTemplate]

dear katie;

thanks for your response. i (mistakenly) thought that if i had been working in a document for a while (adding resources, deleting resources, adding symbols, deleting symbols) that there would be "left-over" stuff still residing unseen in the document. your note indicates that this is not so. thanks for the info. indeed, i will make a copy of the document, compress it, and upload it. thanks again for your time.

shelley