…Need a recommendation on saving PDFs.

I can only upload up to 4 MB’s worth of files to the media library here; I have a PDF that’s 6 MB. What’s the easiest/most reliable way to shrink a PDF? – I don’t have Adobe Acrobat, but I do have Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0.

I could maybe spend a little money, but this isn’t worth shelling out big bucks for.

7 thoughts on “…Need a recommendation on saving PDFs.”

  1. I use PDF Converter Pro (http://nuance.software.net/store/swnet/ContentTheme/pbPage.nuanceus-ms_pdf-converter-pro/ThemeID.16645600#details) which has an Optimize PDF function for my AutoCAD drawings. It basically filters out extraneous information and compresses pictures, fonts, etc. to reduce the size of the file. Publishing a set of architectural drawings that’s 16 sheets or so to PDF can result in a file similar to yours, 7mb or so, and optimizing it in this software will usually cut it down to 4 or 5 megs. My version is 5.0; they’re up to 7.0 now.

    Worth a look. Good luck.

  2. Given the national PDF shortage, do you think its FAIR for you to do this? You PDF hoarders make me sick.

  3. Here’s the easiest way I’ve found to reduce a PDF file.

    Download Adobe Reader, open your PDF in Reader and go to File: Print: select “Adobe PDF” as your printer, and hit print. Save your file in a different location or under a different name when prompted.

    I don’t know why this works, but it does. I just converted a 25.7 MB file to a 17.6 MB file and they appear to be exactly alike. That’s about a 31.5% reduction in file size, though it varies from file to file, so hopefully it will get your 6 MB file pretty close to 4 MB.

    By the way, for whatever reason, this trick only works once. I printed the 17.6 MB file in the same manner and the new file is 18 MB. Tried it again with the 18 MB file and got another 18 MB file.

    Hope this does the trick for you.

  4. Moe, I have used and had good look with pdf995. They have several different products. You want pdfedit995. This allows you to optimize the pdfs you have. When you optimize you have the option of removing embedded fonts, downsampling images, removing information used in editing, etc.
    You can install pdfedit995 for free and evaluate the program. If you like it, you can purchase a license for $19.95 (lots cheaper than Acrobat). The free version will put a watermark or show adverts.

    tstimes
    http://www.pdf995.com/download.html

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