The final X6 for the MAC was just released. I tried to print a PDF of my plans. The PDF file size was 96.9 MB. Impossible to email.
For you guys on a MAC, what is your solution for printing your plans to PDF?
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The final X6 for the MAC was just released. I tried to print a PDF of my plans. The PDF file size was 96.9 MB. Impossible to email.
For you guys on a MAC, what is your solution for printing your plans to PDF?
I can confirm this tonight if you want me to look into the PDF option on a MAC, I have x6 installed at home.
Are you saying that the MAC PDF is larger than the same PDF printed from a Windows machine? If so, how much bigger and what PDF printer did you use? Adobe or some other?
Can't you just print using a 3rd party program like PDFWriter for Mac? Probably freeware out there, too.
Ok, I will report back my findings.
I would if I could find one. A program that did not print a huge file. I have tried different 3rd party programs but have not found one that will print to PDF under 20 MB, (the max size to email with my email system).
Did CA mention a 3rd party program yet that would meet our needs?
You're probably right about the printer but it might be worth a try to print it with the Adobe printer. Also, if you have the full adobe you can try saving as either "reduced size" or "optimized". Under Optimized you have setting for backward compatibility the - "Make Compatible with" drop down. The higher the version the smaller the size of the file. You also have many options for how to handle the images etc. See the attached screen shot.
Attachment 62273
The large PDF on MAC is a known issue with the toolkit we are using. We have been working with the supplier to provide a better solution for the MAC but as yet have not solved the issue. We will continue to pursue this issue and provide a solution as soon as one becomes available.
In the meantime it would be interesting to know what the results are on some of the available third party PDF printers on the MAC.
Here is something interesting. Printing on PC,
used PDF995, file size 16MB
used built in pdf printer, file size 4MB
One of the things that can make a huge difference is the quality setting of the PDF printer (if your PDF printer has a quality setting). Lowering the quality often has little to no noticeable effect on the file but can decrease the file size dramatically. Also, printing in grayscale (or black and white) instead of color can also make a major difference.
File size is dependent on a lot of variables, mostly due to the content of what you are printing.
We know on the MAC that the large size problem is related to font embedding. Files that don't have much text would be much smaller. Files that use primarily pixel data would likely be similar in size on both platforms.
PDF printer drivers have lot's of configuration options, many of which we don't provide in our Save As PDF... option.
If you intend to provide a useful guide to which driver to use it would be good to establish a benchmark using a set of files that have a variety of data.
Establish a set of test parameters that are adhered to on each test. For example:
Test 1: -> Paper Size: 8.5 x11, DPI: 600 -> Ouptut file size: xxxMb.
Make sure you are comparing the size of the files using the same settings. In my internal tests a single file could produce a PDF that varies from 4mb to 80mb using our internal PDF simply by changing print settings.
ACAD has allowed importing PDF for years. Anytime I import a data sheet in PDF format into a drawing, the system goes dead slow on the layout that it is attached to. File sizes are big as well. I contacted support to see if there is something I might be doing that would cause the problem and it isn't anything that I'm doing. I did look for some information about PDF's and there are two formats. Raster and vector. Raster images are the bigger problem.
PDF's cause me more problems than any other thing in Chief. Slow Slow Slow as soon as I load them. Zooming is slow, panning is slow, and forget about the print preview. I have to abandon ship because it simply takes too long to preview. - 2 -3 minutes for some pages.
...and I can't print them either. I will get a huge file size and I will get only half a page of output to my HP 110. Not every one gives me trouble, only the important ones.
I end up printing to PDF using Bull Zip then I can print that to my HP 110 but can't print directly from the HP 110 through the Chief dbx.
Called tech support and it's just the way it is. My PDF's have too many embedded fonts etc. and they just take forever to render and print. No solution in sight.