Resizing and Creating a PDF from an AI file
August 15, 2013 12:39 PM Subscribe
I have a 39KB AI file I need to resize into a 20MB PFD - while retaining all image quality for print. Thank you so much!
What size and resolution do you need? Speaking in terms of file size doesn't make any sense.
posted by primethyme at 12:48 PM on August 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by primethyme at 12:48 PM on August 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Do you mean you need to export the .Ai file as a PDF that can be at maximum 20mb?
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 12:49 PM on August 15, 2013
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 12:49 PM on August 15, 2013
Response by poster: Oh I'm such a confused newbie...
Yes, These Birds of a Feather that sounds correct!
"... Exporting a .Ai file as a PDF that can be at maximum 20m."
Is that a can do? I can't thank you all enough for your help.
posted by brookem at 1:22 PM on August 15, 2013
Yes, These Birds of a Feather that sounds correct!
"... Exporting a .Ai file as a PDF that can be at maximum 20m."
Is that a can do? I can't thank you all enough for your help.
posted by brookem at 1:22 PM on August 15, 2013
Do you have access to a copy of Adobe Illustrator? You can export to PDF from there.
See this overview and pay attention to the term "press quality".
posted by rocketpup at 1:28 PM on August 15, 2013
See this overview and pay attention to the term "press quality".
posted by rocketpup at 1:28 PM on August 15, 2013
Response by poster: Yes, I have Illustrator (latest version). The file that I'm working with/on is 39KB. When I save it as a PDF (Editing Capabilities disabled) it reduces to a 22,590KB.
I want to upload the PDF to a site, however it will only accept 20MB or smaller.
(I'm afraid I don't know the difference between KB amd MB's)
posted by brookem at 1:34 PM on August 15, 2013
I want to upload the PDF to a site, however it will only accept 20MB or smaller.
(I'm afraid I don't know the difference between KB amd MB's)
posted by brookem at 1:34 PM on August 15, 2013
A MB is 1,024 KB.
Are you uploading it to an automated sort of service like Vistaprint? Or is there a person you can talk to? You may be able to crunch it down below 20MB if you zip it. But we don't have enough information to know if your form will accept zip files.
posted by rocketpup at 1:42 PM on August 15, 2013
Are you uploading it to an automated sort of service like Vistaprint? Or is there a person you can talk to? You may be able to crunch it down below 20MB if you zip it. But we don't have enough information to know if your form will accept zip files.
posted by rocketpup at 1:42 PM on August 15, 2013
Response by poster: Oh my...And I thought it was just a quick fix. Eeek.
No, there in no live support available and I'm not able to send it as a zip file.
posted by brookem at 1:51 PM on August 15, 2013
No, there in no live support available and I'm not able to send it as a zip file.
posted by brookem at 1:51 PM on August 15, 2013
The only other possibility is to select "Press Quality" and then fiddle with the "Output Options", particularly the compression options.
If no compression is being applied, try zip compression. If zip compression is being applied see if "Compress text and line art" is selected. If that's also selected, you may need to use a little lossy compression to get the size down.
posted by rocketpup at 2:05 PM on August 15, 2013
If no compression is being applied, try zip compression. If zip compression is being applied see if "Compress text and line art" is selected. If that's also selected, you may need to use a little lossy compression to get the size down.
posted by rocketpup at 2:05 PM on August 15, 2013
If the .AI file is only 39KB, then I assume you have external raster resources (i.e. image files) that you haven't embedded into the Illustrator file. You might have more control over the output if you edit some of the individual images to reduce their file sizes slightly, before they are embedded into the PDF.
posted by stopgap at 2:24 PM on August 15, 2013
posted by stopgap at 2:24 PM on August 15, 2013
Also, if you have Acrobat Pro, you can sometimes use the "Examine…" tool to remove unnecessary information from a PDF file such as overprinted text and metadata. I can usually cut down vector-only files by about 50%, but this technique won't help much for any raster data in your files unless you have images extending beyond a bleed.
posted by stopgap at 2:28 PM on August 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by stopgap at 2:28 PM on August 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Stopgap is right on - there is no way a 39 KB .ai file grows to a 22 MB pdf (increases by a factor of 500!) unless the ai file includes references to large raster images. The first thing to check is whether those raster images can be reduced in size - possibly by reducing their resolution or quality and increasing the level of jpeg compression using something like Photoshop.
Can you confirm whether you're including large images or not?
And do you have stringent quality requirements?
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:30 PM on August 15, 2013
Can you confirm whether you're including large images or not?
And do you have stringent quality requirements?
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:30 PM on August 15, 2013
Do you have Adobe Acrobat? You can pull the PDF in there and reduce the file size.
posted by jmd97 at 11:57 PM on August 16, 2013
posted by jmd97 at 11:57 PM on August 16, 2013
Do you have Adobe Acrobat? You can pull the PDF in there and reduce the file size.
There is a "Reduce File Size" function, but I've never gotten good results from it. I often get a file that is slightly larger or only marginally smaller even when I restrict to the most current PDF version. There is also a "PDF optimizer" that allows you to remove individual elements of the file, resample the images, or flatten transparency to reduce the file size, but editing the source images directly, as discussed above, will give much more control over these techniques.
posted by stopgap at 7:33 AM on August 17, 2013
There is a "Reduce File Size" function, but I've never gotten good results from it. I often get a file that is slightly larger or only marginally smaller even when I restrict to the most current PDF version. There is also a "PDF optimizer" that allows you to remove individual elements of the file, resample the images, or flatten transparency to reduce the file size, but editing the source images directly, as discussed above, will give much more control over these techniques.
posted by stopgap at 7:33 AM on August 17, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by amanda at 12:44 PM on August 15, 2013 [1 favorite]