PDF File size

I'm trying to solve a problem, and it has to do with the size of the
PDF file I create from within PageStream.

I do the newsletter for the local science fiction club and most of the
people I send it to wish to have the newsletter sent by e-mail. So I
create a PDF file for them and for archival purposes and that's where
the problem lies. The PGS file of the July issue of the newsletter
was about 604 KB in size, but the PDF created within PageStream was
1,790 KB. I know that there are some limitations to the PDF creator
in PageStream and that may be part of the problem. I use from 8 to 10
fonts in the newsletter and since the PageStream PDF process does
imbed the fonts in the PDF file that also seems to be part of the
problem. In this July issue I had 7 graphics and I've learned to
reduce them in size and convert to GIFs if they're not already in that
format. I also reduce the number of colors used in the GIFs to a
useable minimum. This helps, but…

I don't have a postscript printer, but is there anyway to make a
postscript file to convert to a PDF. I have GhostScript. I've also
tried adding a postscript printer driver to my my system where the
`printer' prints to a file. I then tried using GhostScript to create
a PDF from this file, but there were some strange `goings-on' when I
tried to read the resultant PDF file.

I'm not at all familiar with postscript and that might be part of my
problem!

Any suggestions? Any solutions? I recently moved to where my download
speed s are triple what they used to be (I have DSL), but the upload
speed is still the same and with PDFs over 1 megabyte that does slow
things down a bit!!

BTW, I'm using PageStream 5.0.3.4 non-Pro version on Windows XP Pro

Thanks for any help,

Frank Jordan

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there is a program called htmldoc which allows you to convert a set of web
pages to a pdf file. It is a command line program and amiga, linux and
widows versions exist.

however this would mean creating the newsletter in html format so it may
not be a solution since it does not use pagestream.

in my experience, in general pdf's with images in them are pretty large.
in terms of mailing things out you could break the newsletter down into
separate pages - each a different pdf.

i am glad you brought this up because I had not read the part of the
page stream manual on pdf's so i learned why my fonts were looking
strange from a pdf. [that is the problem with having a program that
is mostly 'intuitive' to use - you don't read the manual]

here is the comment from the manual on compression:

4. Select the file compression.

Choose the compression method used for the page from the Page pop-up menu
in the Compression group box. None will leave the date uncompressed.
Flate/ZLib is the best compression available for page data in PDF files,
but is not supported by older PDF viewers.

Choose the compression method used for the bitmaps from the Bitmaps pop-up
menu in the Compression group box. None will leave the pictures
uncompressed. Flate/ZLib is the best lossless compression available for
bitmap data in PDF files, but is not supported by older PDF viewers.

Choose the file encoding method from the Encoding pop-up menu in the
Compression group box. Binary encoding method is the most efficient, but
may not be supported in all network systems. Ascii 85 and Ascii Hex will
produce safer 7bit ASCII text files, but at an increasing files size.

according to the pagestream manual these are current limitations in
pagestream pdf:

* Fonts are not imbeded into the PDF file.
* Line ends styles (Arrows, etc.) are not saved.
* Only solid fills are supported (no gradient, shape, or bitmap
fills).
* Masked graphics are saved unmasked.
* EPS graphics are not saved.

since the fonts are not saved you need to be careful to choose a font
that will display the same way on other systems - like courier and times
or your pdf may look strange to someone with a different system.

To get around this headlines that might be set in special fonts can be
managed in two ways:

(1) if a good printscreen is available for your system then do a print
screen and make a graphic of the headline and use that instead of the
preset font.

(2) Print out the pagestream font and scan it as a graphic

On my linux setup I keep finding new ways to use printscreen. On my linux
setup printscreen will save a windown if your mouse is over it when you
do the alt printscreen key combination. I use this to save a graphic of
receipts, error messages and fonts I want to make into a graphic for other
purposes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bonnie Dalzell, MA
mail:5100 Hydes Rd ---- Hydes MD USA 21082-----EMAIL: bdalzell%40qis.net">bdalzellqis.net

freelance anatomist, vertebrate paleontologist, writer, illustrator, dog
breeder, computer nerd & iconoclast... Borzoi info at www.borzois.com.

Editor Net.Pet Online Animal Magazine - http://www.netpetmagazine.com
HOME http://www.qis.net/~borzoi/ BUSINESS http://www.batw.com

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Hello fjordanrr,

[snip]

> Any suggestions? Any solutions? I recently moved to where my download
> speed s are triple what they used to be (I have DSL), but the upload
> speed is still the same and with PDFs over 1 megabyte that does slow
>; things down a bit!!

> BTW, I'm using PageStream 5.0.3.4 non-Pro version on Windows XP Pro

You can use a virtual PDF "printer" package such as PrimoPDF from
http://www.primopdf.com (and it's free).

Basically, it receives documents like an ordinary printer, but outputs a
PDF file.

TTFN

--
Andy Mills
sirium.net, web hosting - http://www.sirium.net

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.

Andy Mills wrote:

> You can use a virtual PDF "printer" package such as PrimoPDF from
>; http://www.primopdf.com (and it's free).
>
> Basically, it receives documents like an ordinary printer, but outputs a
> PDF file.

I have tried PrimoPDF as well as a couple of other alternatives. I don't
find the suitable.

Problems I experienced:

1. Extremely slow on my system
2. Huge PDF files
3. PDF appeared to be a bitmap, no fonts, so it was impossible to
cut'n'paste from these PDF files.

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.

On Tuesday 21 August 2007, Uffe Holst wrote:
> Andy Mills wrote:
> > You can use a virtual PDF "printer" package such as PrimoPDF from
>; > http://www.primopdf.com (and it's free).
> >
>; > Basically, it receives documents like an ordinary printer, but outputs a
> > PDF file.
>
> I have tried PrimoPDF as well as a couple of other alternatives. I don't
> find the suitable.
>
> Problems I experienced:
>
> 1. Extremely slow on my system
> 2. Huge PDF files

Relative to PgS's PDF output I'm not very surprised. Except for bitmaps (where
PgS does not automatically downsample them to save space) PgS tends to
produce compact PDFs.

> 3. PDF appeared to be a bitmap, no fonts, so it was impossible to
> cut'n'paste from these PDF files.

That sounds like an issue with printer setup. I use Primo most every day at
work and it doesn't have that issue. On the other hand when I tried to print
from PgS through Primo it just hangs so I'm afraid I won't be of much help
configuring that.

It sounds like you are already doing the right things to keep file size down
but here's my run down.

1. Graphics. PageStream will produce 24-bit color or 8-bit gray. I believe it
outputs the graphic as a bitmap meaning if it is a 100KB jpg it will most
likely be MUCH bigger in the PDF. Also keep in mind that if it is primarily
for viewing on the screen the dpi for images only needs to be around 72 to
100 dpi. This is where Adobe Acrobat shines: you can set it to control the
dpi of graphics in the generated PDF as well as use compression method of
choice (e.g., jpg).
- graphic format may cause a larger than expected file size
- screen resolution is generally 72 to 100 dpi

2. Fonts. You are using a version of PgS that can embed the fonts. While this
is good for preserving the appearance of text inflates the file size. Deron
mentioned an option to NOT embed the fonts, but I don't see it. If your
document only uses the core 14 PDF fonts you don't need to embed them -- all
viewers are required to provide those fonts. Check the fonts for file size.
Most truetype fonts are a modest 100KB or so, but some are downright
monstrous. Cyberbit is 13MB! Depending on how much text is set with a font
and the font's size it may be beneficial to convert the text to vector.
Except that requires the Pro version. In any case this is usually only
beneficial with large fonts which are only used for a few characters (such as
titles).
- limit fonts to the core 14 PDF fonts
- converting frameless text to vector /may/ reduce file size

Tim Doty

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Andy Mills wrote:
>
>
> Hello fjordanrr,
>
> [snip]
>
>>; Any suggestions? Any solutions? I recently moved to where my
>> download speed s are triple what they used to be (I have DSL), but
>> the upload speed is still the same and with PDFs over 1 megabyte
>> that does slow things down a bit!!
>
>>; BTW, I'm using PageStream 5.0.3.4 non-Pro version on Windows XP Pro
>>
>
> You can use a virtual PDF "printer" package such as PrimoPDF from
> http://www.primopdf.com <http://www.primopdf.com> (and it's free).
&gt;
> Basically, it receives documents like an ordinary printer, but
> outputs a PDF file.

Thanks, Andy, I've downloaded it and I'm going to try it.

--
DAVID L. STEVENS -- TEAM AMIGA --Chapter Chat Publisher
Windows XP user (:^(> on Acer Aspire 9810 2.16 GHz Notebook
2 GB RAM; 2 120-GB Hard Drives; CanoScan LIDE 20
Canon i860 & Brother HL-5050 PageStream v5.0.2.10Pro
<http://davestevens.home.insightbb.com>;

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

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--- In PageStreamSupport%40yahoogroups.com">PageStreamSupportyahoogroups.com, "fjordanrr" <fjordanrr...> wrote:
&gt;
> I'm trying to solve a problem, and it has to do with the size of the
> PDF file I create from within PageStream...
>
> I don't have a postscript printer, but is there anyway to make a
> postscript file to convert to a PDF. I have GhostScript. I've also
>; tried adding a postscript printer driver to my my system where the
> `printer' prints to a file. I then tried using GhostScript to create
&gt; a PDF from this file, but there were some strange `goings-on' when I
> tried to read the resultant PDF file.
&gt;
> I'm not at all familiar with postscript and that might be part of my
> problem!
>
> Any suggestions? Any solutions? I recently moved to where my download
> speed s are triple what they used to be (I have DSL), but the upload
&gt; speed is still the same and with PDFs over 1 megabyte that does slow
>; things down a bit!!
&gt;
> BTW, I'm using PageStream 5.0.3.4 non-Pro version on Windows XP Pro
>
> Thanks for any help,
&gt;
> Frank Jordan
&gt;

My background is in the printing industry, but am getting a little
rusty as it's already a few years since I left. But will offer a
couple of suggestions:

If you're willing to spend a bit of money and want to get a good PDF
creator package, check out JawsPDF at http://www.jawspdf.com/ which
is quite economical and works really well. It was about $100 CAD to
purchase in about 2003. It installs much like a printer driver that
writes the pdf file to disk.

If you want to go the free route, ghostscript is one way to go. You
don't mention what version of Ghostscript you are using, nor what gui
you are using.

If you have ghostscript version 8.54 here is a sample command-line
script that will work (the syntax will vary according to platform).
It will result in substantially smaller files owing to the -
dPDFSETTINGS=/screen switch:

{pathname/bin/gs} -dPDFSETTINGS=/screen -dORIENT1=true
-sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dBATCH -dORIENT1=true -dAutoRotatePages=/None
-dNOPAUSE -sPAPERSIZE=letter -r72 -sOutputFile={output}
-f -c quit
The above must be entered on one line.

Substitute {c:ghostscript/bin/gs} with the appropriate path to the
executable. For instance, c:ghostscriptbings or whatever the path
is.

Substitute the parameters with the respective path
and filename.

Try setting -dORIENT1=true to -dORIENT1=false if the pdf output is
oriented incorrectly.

If you're not comfortable working from the command line (shell) then
you'll have to depend on whatever GS user interface you have to carry out this command. Perhaps it will allow you to set some of these
parameters.

Ernest Unrau
Morden, Manitoba
CANADA

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