X10 - Importing a 60KB PDF into layout adds 17,000 KB to the layouts PDF File!

[AvoyeDesign]

I just discovered today that a 60KB PDF file I've imported into a layout causes the PDF file I print FROM the layout to be 17,000KB larger than if the imported PDF file is not included!  What gives?  Has anyone experienced this?  I have clients and contractors complaining that the file is too large for their email servers.

 

I've attached the culprit PDF if anyone wants to give this a go.  I can't include the chief files as they contain confidential information and I don't have the time to go through and remove them.  I might later if need be.  But I've tested this PDF file on a brand new layout with no other drawings and it still generates a ~17MB file for a single sheet!

 

With some playing around, I removed the cell borders from the spreadsheet and that reduced the generated file by aroudn 6,000KB.  I tried removing cell shading and that had no effect.  I've attached the spreadsheet as well if anyone wants to play around wiht that.  I hope I am missing something or doing something obviously wrong.  I've attached my template layout too in case anyone wants to play around with that.

 

Thanks for having a look!

Chief Demo.layout

Chief Demo.pdf

Chief Demo.xlsx

[Chopsaw]

37 minutes ago, AvoyeDesign said:

But I've tested this PDF file on a brand new layout with no other drawings and it still generates a ~17MB file for a single sheet!

 

7 MB in my ANSI B  X12 layout template printed at 600 dpi....   Same in X10...   Not sure where the extra 10 MB comes from.  Page 2 perhaps ?

 

Quality is not even all that great once imported and then re PDF'd.   Might be worth while exporting a blank title sheet and then combining PDF's with a PDF editor or convert to .PNG before importing into chief layout.

[AvoyeDesign]

1 hour ago, Chopsaw said:

 

7 MB in my ANSI B  X12 layout template printed at 600 dpi....   Same in X10...   Not sure where the extra 10 MB comes from.  Page 2 perhaps ?

 

Quality is not even all that great once imported and then re PDF'd.   Might be worth while exporting a blank title sheet and then combining PDF's with a PDF editor or convert to .PNG before importing into chief layout.

Thanks.  A few things to try at least.

[AvoyeDesign]

1 hour ago, Chopsaw said:

convert to .PNG before importing into chief layout.

I printed it from excel to a .JPG file and it reduced it by 2/3 size.  Quality is ok.  Maybe a bit better than before.

 

What I really need is the ability to copy a spreadsheet into Cheif that preserves all formatting, or actually havea  spreadsheet tool in chief.

 

[Chopsaw]

6 minutes ago, AvoyeDesign said:

What I really need is the ability to copy a spreadsheet into Cheif that preserves all formatting, or actually havea  spreadsheet tool in chief.

 

Have you tried paste special ?    Picture for your situation.

[AvoyeDesign]

17 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Have you tried paste special ?    Picture for your situation.

I used to do that but had complaints about the quality

[Chopsaw]

4 minutes ago, AvoyeDesign said:

22 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Have you tried paste special ?    Picture for your situation.

I used to do that but had complaints about the quality

 

It seems a slight bit better than importing and duplicating your original PDF but still leaves some to be desired compared to a vector PDF for sure.  I wish there was a better solution.

[Alaskan_Son]

 

4 hours ago, Chopsaw said:

I wish there was a better solution.

 

There is.  You can use a PDF editor and insert the desired PDF after Chief does it's thing.  Not ideal but the end results are much better than the aforementioned alternatives. 

 

[Chopsaw]

3 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

4 hours ago, Chopsaw said:

I wish there was a better solution.

 

There is.  You can use a PDF editor and insert the desired PDF after Chief does it's thing.  Not ideal but the end results are much better than the aforementioned alternatives. 

 

I was looking for a better solution within Chief.....    Since I already mentioned using a PDF editor..   Maybe X13 if they have been listening.

[Alaskan_Son]

2 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

Maybe X13 if they have been listening.

 

Have you reported this issue to Chief?  I know I never did...mostly because I only EXTREMELY rarely import PDF's into my Layout.  I usually just re-draw the desired elements right inside Chief.

[Chopsaw]

8 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

Have you reported this issue to Chief?  I know I never did...mostly because I only EXTREMELY rarely import PDF's into my Layout.  I usually just re-draw the desired elements right inside Chief.

 

Yes I have reported it, as it is a much more significant issue if the PDF quality is poor as it always seems to be with a document that is not digital and must be scanned.  Then it becomes a real headache even if you are just importing so you can digitally reproduce the document.  I have gone through this many times and try to help others that have similar issues since other software programs do not seem to struggle with this the way Chief does.  So if you think some day you may not have an option of importing a PDF you may want to seed in a report as it seems it takes years to resolve issues like this.

[Alaskan_Son]

34 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

it is a much more significant issue if the PDF quality is poor as it always seems to be with a document that is not digital and must be scanned.

 

In these instances there is no benefit to importing as a PDF anyway since a PDF produced from a scan is nothing more than an image file contained in a PDF.

 

34 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

if you think some day you may not have an option of importing a PDF you may want to seed in a report as it seems it takes years to resolve issues like this.

 

I try not to make a habit of reporting things just because I see another user having a problem or just because I might eventually have a probelm.  This really isn't doing much good since among other things:

A.  It waters down the accuracy of the big picture as it relates to what users are really having issues with.  I don't want Chief thinking 5 people are having a problem with something that's only affecting 2 users.  There may be another problem that 4 people are genuinely having an issue with.  Guess which one just got pushed to the front of the line. 

B.  People need to report their own problems in order for Chief to get an accurate picture of how the problem is actually affecting their workflow, what solutions might be acceptable for that person who's actually having the problem,  and the exact steps that led to the problem in the first place.

C.  I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.  Chief has limited resources and if my other issues haven't been addressed yet, the last thing I want to do is add more to the list to detract from what really matters to me. 

[AvoyeDesign]

Thanks everyone for looking into it.  Doesn't seem there is anything much I can do at this point, but it is good to know that it isn't something I'm doing wrong.

[CV-reno]

On 1/7/2021 at 5:19 PM, AvoyeDesign said:

I just discovered today that a 60KB PDF file I've imported into a layout causes the PDF file I print FROM the layout to be 17,000KB larger than if the imported PDF file is not included!  What gives? 

Not the ideal solution, but have you tried 'optimizing' the resulting PDF from layout?  Post that file and I'll see how much it can be reduced in size.

[MarkMc]

31 minutes ago, CV-reno said:

Not the ideal solution, but have you tried 'optimizing' the resulting PDF from layout?  Post that file and I'll see how much it can be reduced in size.

I poste that already doen under 4MB for the better one, lesser one not quite as clear

[jgeisjr]

I had a similar problem with my old pdf software a and switched to PDF-XChange software. Works great and the files are small.

Give the demo a try.

 

Jack