Printing PDF on a MAC

[dshall]

Scott have you tried this?

http://www.wikihow.com/Compress-a-PDF-File

Method 3 of 4: Compressing a PDF File Using Mac OS

1
Open your PDF in Preview by double-clicking on it in the Finder menu.
By default, PDF files open in Preview unless you have Adobe Reader or a third party PDF viewer. If that is the case, simply locate the PDF, right click it, click “Open With” and choose Preview.
2
Click File → Export. A dialog box will appear.
3
Click the Quartz Filter option and select “Reduce File Size”.
4
Click “Save”. If you do not rename this file, a dialog box will appear asking if you wish to replace the original document. This will overwrite the current document.[2]

Or This?

Compress a PDF file on MAC

If you are a MAC user then compressing the size of the PDF file is really easy and it does not require any software download as MAC has an inbuilt application (Preview.app) which can be used to compress the PDF file in seconds.

The Real Process:

1. The very first process is open the PDF file with Preview application.

2. After opening the file choose “File” at the top of the screen and then click on “Print” or You can also the use the shortcut key (“Command key” + Letter “P”) to print the file, this will pop up a dropdown menu.

3. On the dropdown menu, you can see a button in the bottom left-hand corner labeled as “PDF”. Click the button and another dropdown menu will appear, immediately below the “PDF” button.

4. Click on the “Compress PDF” from this dropdown menu and now you can see a window indicating the compression is taking place.

5. After the compression a Save window will appear, here you need to type the name of the file and location of the file and click on the Save button.

That’s all, now your PDF file is compressed and ready to send over email.

Just tried it, started with 100.3 mb file, result was a 100.3 mb file. ( I used method 3 as you suggested).

[HumbleChief]

Sorry Scott, I don't write lol unless I'm actually laughing out loud and I know it's frustrating but lol - guess that didn't work so well huh?

[dshall]

Sorry Scott, I don't write lol unless I'm actually laughing out loud and I know it's frustrating but lol - guess that didn't work so well huh?

No it did not work. I posted this thread hoping somebody would and could come up with a solution. Nobody has (but I do appreciate the efforts). If anybody had a solution I would of expected it to come from CA. They do recognize the issue, they say they are looking for a solution, and I assume they are. I think it was Dan who wondered if a third party app would help out, I wish somebody would find that app.

I just amazes me that this is even a problem and has not been solved a long time ago, I just don't get it. What do all the other apple die hards do?

[Electromen]

No it did not work. I posted this thread hoping somebody would and could come up with a solution. Nobody has (but I do appreciate the efforts). If anybody had a solution I would of expected it to come from CA. They do recognize the issue, they say they are looking for a solution, and I assume they are. I think it was Dan who wondered if a third party app would help out, I wish somebody would find that app.

I just amazes me that this is even a problem and has not been solved a long time ago, I just don't get it. What do all the other apple die hards do?

I took the Riverstone layout which was 60MB and changed all of the 3D graphics from jpeg to PNG and it changed the PDF file size to 39.2MB. Maybe that will help.
I think the answer is FTP.

[miked56]

.... I just don't get it. What do all the other apple die hards do?

Switch to a PC That seems to solve the YouTube audio issues as well.

[Levis]

I opened the Sample layout "Riverstone" supplied by CA, which is 19 pages with plenty of 3D graphics.
I used the built pdf printer @ 600DPI, the file size was 60MB.

I just tried the same thing on my machine and I get a file size of 39.2MB @ 600dpi. How do we get such a difference in file size using the same method and same file on two different machines? Also odd, I tried @ 300dpi and the file size actually gets slightly larger (39.4MB)...

I also tried reducing the 600dpi file size via Preview and it went down to 31.3MB... as you said Scott, it helps but not much. I did a quick search in the App Store and found another app you could maybe try: PDF Squeezer - $3.99. It got decent reviews, but I can't say I've tried it.

It would be nice if we had more options to control file size from CA's print dbx, rather than just dpi and color on/off. Hopefully Dan and those guys can figure something out.

In the mean time, one thing I do when I have files that are too large to email is dump them in a new folder in Dropbox and share that folder with my client. I started doing 3D fly-around videos and stuff recently. Those files are always too large to email if I use a decent resolution and the Dropbox option works well for that.

[dshall]

........ Those files are always too large to email if I use a decent resolution and the Dropbox option works well for that.

Yep, drop box for my print company would work or I could use their FTP site as Greg suggested. As far as clients go, I do use the drop box, but if they then want to email it, they too have to set up a drop box account.

For now I think I will stick with printing off the PC until CA figures out how to handle this. I would consider switching back to the PC full time, but truthfully, I hate going back and doing work on the PC in lieu of MAC. Not saying the MAC is better, it is just that I have now become quite accustom to it..... and who knows, maybe my PC is screwed up....... thanks guys for the interest..... as CA says..... the squeaky wheel gets the oil..... so I am squeaking.

[Dan Park]

This thread is confusing we are talking about multiple issues:

1) Scott's issue with large PDF size on MAC. This is a result of font's not getting embbeded. I have talked to the engineers at QT and it's apparently a hard problem for them to solve. We will continue to pursue the issue.

2) Importing PDF files that consist of a large number of pixel based images.

3) Performance of the program in plan views and layout views when you have imported PDF files.

4) Performance of print preview when you have lot's of embedded PDF files.

Primarily this thread is dicussing item 1). It will be less confusing for everyone if we discuss the discrete issues in separate threads.

[Steve C.]

This thread is confusing we are talking about multiple issues:

1) Scott's issue with large PDF size on MAC. This is a result of font's not getting embbeded. I have talked to the engineers at QT and it's apparently a hard problem for them to solve. We will continue to pursue the issue.

2) Importing PDF files that consist of a large number of pixel based images.

3) Performance of the program in plan views and layout views when you have imported PDF files.

4) Performance of print preview when you have lot's of embedded PDF files.

Primarily this thread is dicussing item 1). It will be less confusing for everyone if we discuss the discrete issues in separate threads.

I would be curious to know if the fact that I use limited text on my layouts has anything to do with my smaller print file sizes verses Scott's. I block my header on page 0 and label imports from plan files, that's about all the text I have on my layout files. Out of the few print files I've completed with X6 (all have been limited to 6 pages or less), my largest file was around 3mb or 4mb at 600dpi.

Scott, try blocking all your layout text on each page. If it's a text/font issue and CA can't resolve it, it's at least worth a shot in the dark. How much text do you use in your layouts? Do you use the auto-generated labels (I do not)?

[Electromen]

I would be curious to know if the fact that I use limited text on my layouts has anything to do with my smaller print file sizes verses Scott's. I block my header on page 0 and label imports from plan files, that's about all the text I have on my layout files. Out of the few print files I've completed with X6 (all have been limited to 6 pages or less), my largest file was around 3mb or 4mb at 600dpi.

Scott, try blocking all your layout text on each page. If it's a text/font issue and CA can't resolve it, it's at least worth a shot in the dark. How much text do you use in your layouts? Do you use the auto-generated labels (I do not)?

Instead of Riverstone, I used my own layout with a total of 12 pages, six line drawings, four 3D views and two high quality Ray Traces. When I print to PDF using CA the file size is 6MB. I used all default fonts.
There is something in Riverstone causing this. Is it the Fonts?
You can download the PDF HERE, it's on the right side. Maybe it will help figure this out.

[jcaffee]

Did I miss something in this 1997 flashback--Use DropBox, SkyDrive, Amazon Cloud, etc., etc. Emailing files? As if. What's next; FTP?

jon