Optimize a PDF for File Size and Compatibility
To Optimize a PDF means to reduce the file size as much as possible, so that it is easier and faster to download, without reducing the quality of the text and graphics
Find the File Size in Adobe Acrobat
1. Go to File> Properties
2. Under the Description tab > Advanced section > next to File Size you will see how big the file is
3. Click Ok to close the window
Optimize PDF Automatically
1. Open the PDF that you want to optimize
2. Go to File > Save As… > click on Reduced Size PDF
3. In the Reduced File Size window, select what version of Adobe you want the reduced file to be compatible with
- Hint: The newer the version you choose, the smaller the file size will be
4. Click Ok to apply to the open PDF
5. Click Apply to Multiple to select other files to apply the optimization to
6. A Save As window will open, prompting you to select a location and name for the new reduced size file. When you are done, click Save
7. Adobe will process the PDF
8. You may get a warning that some of the images that contain masks were not able to be reduced, just click OK
9. The file size will be reduced, but the images will remain quality
Optimize PDF Manually
You can further reduce the file size by manually optimizing the PDF
1. Open the PDF that you want to optimize
2. Got to File Þ Save As… > click on Optimized PDF
3. In the top right corner, click on Audit space usage…
- In the Audit Space Usage window, you can see what percentage of space each part of the PDF is using. For example, all of the images in your PDF could be using the majority of your space
- You will want to focus your optimization settings on the part of the PDF that takes up the most space
- Click Ok when you are done
4. In the pane on the left, click on the part of the PDF you want to optimize
5. Click on Images:
- Under images you can change the settings for Color, Grayscale and Monochrome images individually
- Next to Downsample you can select how many pixels per inch you want to reduce certain images to. For example, you can reduce all images with 75 ppi or above to 75 ppi to make all images low resolution.
- Next to Compression you can select the type of compression as well as the amount
6. Under Fonts:
- On the left you see any fonts that are embedded
- Note: Embedded fonts will appear exactly the same as the original font even if the reader program does not contain that font, however this takes up file size.
- Click on a font that you want to unembed > click Unembed
- This will remove any embedding information to reduce file size
- If you chose the wrong font, you can cancel it by selecting the font on the list to the right and clicking Retain, however this can only be done before clicking OK
7. Under Discard Objects, you can check the box next to any objects you know can be removed from the PDF
8. Under Discard User Data you can check the box next to any user related information that you know can be removed from the PDF
9. Under Clean Up you have the option change the settings for object compression
10. When you have made the necessary changes to each section, you can click Save to save these settings for future us on other PDFs
11. Click Ok when you are done to apply the optimization to the PDF
12. A Save Optimized As window will open, prompting you to select a location and name for the new reduced size file. When you are done, click Save
13. Adobe will process the PDF
14. You may get a warning that some of the images that contain masks were not able to be reduced, just click OK
15. The file size will be greatly reduced, but the images will remain quality
