Smaller files w/out changing scale (drawing size) 1

[PDCmonkey]

Here is my problem, I draft floor plans for our company in AutoCAD 2006, use cutePDF writer to make a 30"x42" PDF Image. When i open this image in PS 7.0 its is rediculously large and slow working, my current plan is just starting and 324 MB. How do i save it to a smaller file while retaining sharpness and quality?

Also, our plotter OCE600 plots some tiff compresion 4 file type, so i am told, but i dont know what that means.

 

[rhyno2k]

I've used CutePDF writer -- and subsequently STOPPED using it because it would produce _ridiculously_ large files, as you are experiencing. (A 5MB Word .DOC would become an **83MB** PDF!) The perils of "free" products...

I could find no options within the program to get the files smaller.

My suggestion is to look for another free PDF writer (some have _got_ to have better compression...) Or just bite the bullet, as I did, and pickup the excellent ScanSoft (now "Nuance") PDF Creator -- they have a few versions depending on your needs:

http://www.nuance.com/pdfconverter/

A much better deal than Acrobat ($249-$499 now?) Only costs $49-99 and is well worth it, especially when working with important CAD files.


Good Luck.

 

[jimoblak]

Why do you need to open in Photoshop? Photoshop rasterizes this data and creates the large file. You want to keep in in vector form for as long as possible. Can your plotter work from Adobe Reader?

 

[PDCmonkey]

They are for color floor plan presentations, I can do color hatches in CAD but there is no opacity filter, so it looks better in photoshop

 

[jimoblak]

I would contest the choice of image editing application. You would probably be better off with a program like Illustrator or Freehand, which retains the vector art in the smaller file size.

 

[jmgalvin]

You did not state what size the pdf is and what settings, like any downsampling, you used for that pdf. If the pdf is large, anything using it is also going ot be quite large.

If you start a new Photshop file at, lets say 300 dpi, and it's 30 X42, yes you're going to have a large file.

As jimoblak said, you would probably be better off getting the Autocad thing into a vector app. If you have Illustrtator, you might try saving the Autocad as a .DXF and open it in Illustrator.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4