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Heavy files (pdf) in portfolio, what to do???

M Martins

I´m currently building my architecture portfolio in Adobe Illustrator, but the files are getting really large. I have lots of pdf drawings that I made in AutoCAD.

Is there a way to compress or make the PDF´s file lighter??

In terms of size, does it make a difference if I (place) the PDF instead of copy and pasting?

Or would it be preferred if I open the PDFs in Photoshop and save it as a PNG?

Or if I redo every thing in Indesign, would it then make a difference in terms of file size?

I know, lots of questions, please help!

 
Apr 17, 18 3:33 pm
ynxi2017

You should use Adobe indesign for portfolio layout with JPG images. Play around with the compression settings and you can export to a smaller file size - I was able to compress to size limitations for MArch applications this way 

Apr 17, 18 3:41 pm  · 
 · 
Non Sequitur

InDesign.

Apr 17, 18 4:00 pm  · 
 · 
Steeplechase

Acrobat. Save As Reduced Size PDF.


InDesign is definitely the better tool to be using for creating a published document. You can save out a variety of file sizes depending on application (digital versus print).

Apr 17, 18 5:35 pm  · 
 · 
chigurh

reduce file size sucks... print pdf to pdf..

Apr 17, 18 6:02 pm  · 
 · 
ecnal

Yep, illustrator is the wrong tool for the job.

Indesign, all the way.

Apr 17, 18 9:35 pm  · 
 · 
randomised

First, will the portfolio be used for onscreen reviewing or as hardcopy?

Apr 18, 18 4:22 am  · 
 · 
Yelo Architects

Using Indesign is your best choice.

To elaborate on the comments above - InDesign will not rasterise any vector graphics (including those in PDF format) meaning that not only will they export with a extremely small file size, but those graphics won't lose any quality when zooming in infinitely. Extremely beneficial for documents with text and CAD drawings.

InDesign also has the added benefit of being able to control the resolution you export your document in. This means you can reduce file size at the expense of the quality of any raster graphics (such as photos). Note that this will not impact the quality of vector graphics.

If you already have command of Indesign and Photoshop you shouldn't find Indesign particularly difficult to pick up.

Apr 18, 18 5:45 am  · 
 · 
M Martins

Thank you guys so much. 

Especially Yelo for all the details! 

 Will be redoing it on Indesign. 


Apr 19, 18 8:36 am  · 
 · 
danielkragskov

A little note Yelo Architects comment is that sometimes it might be beneficial to rasterize a vector drawing. If it is very complicated (a lot of lines, layers, hatches etc) it can reduce file size to convert them to Jpegs.

Apr 19, 18 12:30 pm  · 
 · 
M Martins

Yeah, that might also be my case. Thanks!

Apr 19, 18 11:22 pm  · 
 · 
alleycat393

illustrator is the wrong tool for the job.

Apr 20, 18 4:45 am  · 
 · 

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