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SUMMARY AND FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS: Re: Acrobat file sizes
Subject:SUMMARY AND FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS: Re: Acrobat file sizes From:Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Fri, 5 May 2000 09:28:06 -0400
I received several responses, but I think Dick Margulis and Graham Wyatt
had the right answer, at least for my situation (this is Dick's response,
but Graham said basically the same thing):
Be sure to upgrade to Acrobat 4.05b (or 4.05a plus the Update 1 file
that you can download from Adobe). If you are trying to use 4.0 instead
of 4.05, that is probably the source of your problem. That version is
very buggy with respect to graphics compression and file size.
This sounds like the right answer for me, because I found the following
description of the 4.05 upgrade on the Adobe web site:
"... Proper JPEG Compression in PDF Files Created by Distiller In
Acrobat 4.0, Distiller's JPEG compression results are the same for High,
Medium, and Low. Acrobat 4.05 corrects this problem ..."
I just called and ordered the upgrade CD (they don't send it over the
Internet), and I assume that this will solve the problem. If it doesn't,
I'll contact the list again. The phone number is 1 800 272 3623. Thanks
to everyone for your help.
Here are my followup questions:
Some of the other replies I received touched on the choice of JPEG format.
We had the same problem. The answer: don't use JPGs. Frame's storage
algorithm for them makes bloat of the first magnitude. The smallest Frame
and Acrobat files you can make, in our experience are
using *.xwd (a UNIX bitmap). Second place goes to *.gif.
Personally, I would pick GIF as a more HTML friendly format for screen
shots - JPEG is really designed for use with photographic type images.
Being a totally novice on this topic, I relied on the advice of a good
friend, who recommended JPEG. He told me that GIF is suitable more for
pictures containing large blocks of solid colour. I thought our screen
shots are complex enough to make GIF unsuitable for us.
1. Was that the wrong decision?
2. If so, is there a quick and easy way to convert hundreds of JPEGs to
GIFs?
