Exporting as PDF from Publisher: File size is very large

[Willouj]

I looked through the forum for an answer to this question and only found confusing work-arounds. I'm coming from InDesign, which exports high-quality pdfs with small file sizes. For exactly the same type of file, exported with similar quality, the exported pdfs are SO much larger coming from Publisher. Am I stuck trying work-arounds or is this something Affinity can address in simple terms?

[Minus44]

Is there a difference in the type of content for the PDF files you’ve created with InDesign compared with Publisher?

For example, have you tried to test by creating the same document with both pieces of software?

[Willouj]

Thanks for the reply! Is this fairly typical for Affinity Designer, or am I experiencing something abnormal?

[Minus44]

It's hard to say. What file sizes are you ending up with from InDesign compared to Publisher?

[Selorm Butsor Gamenyah]

Hello friend, i think you embeded your images used for that document. That is when the file becomes large to some extent. So i would be glad if you check whether your chose embeded or linked. Thank you

[Willouj]

Thank you Selorm! My images were indeed embedded instead of linked, I truly appreciate your help!

Edited February 23, 2021 by Willouj

[Minus44]

@Willouj are you seeing a reduced file size in your PDF now that you’re linking your images?

[Willouj]

Yes, yes I am.

[Selorm Butsor Gamenyah]

.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Selorm Butsor Gamenyah

[Willouj]

I think it was because the document was originally a pdf file—I opened it up in Publisher and the images were automatically embedded at that point. It all makes sense now 🙂. Thank you again!

[FredVN]

Just for my understanding.

What happens when the images are linked and you give the pdf to soneone else? Will they see the images?

[Minus44]

I can see how linked images would impact the filesize of the Publisher file; however, I expected the resulting PDF to have the same filesize as when using embedded images.

Can anyone explain why linking vs embedded images might make a difference?

[Willouj]

Yes! When you link images instead of embedding them in Publisher, the program will still embed the images into the pdf file with the original resolution in tact upon export.

I am using the same images multiple times in my Publisher document. Because each instance of an image was embedded individually in the Publisher file, each instance was also being embedded individually into the pdf file upon export. When the files were linked in Publisher instead of embedded, the program realized it only needed to embed each image file once when exported, instead of embedding every instance of the image in the pdf file.

Edited February 24, 2021 by Willouj

[FredVN]

Not a solution, just an addition to my previous post.,

 

Since very long I only use embedded for adding something. The main reason was that sometimes, when I linked a file / image in a program, sometimes it was not shown when moveing to another system.

A second reason is that for what I’m doing, I never need something replaced with a latest version, so linking is FOR ME not necessary.

Because of this workflow, I have no need to test what happens in Publisher with linked files. Sorry.

[lacerto]

(...)

[Willouj]

Thanks for your time answering this post! 🙂 There was a difference in the pdf file size between links and embedded images because I had many multiple instances of each image. Every instance of every image was embedded into the pdf when the images were embedded into the Publisher file. When the images were linked, they were only embedded into the pdf file once per image 🙂

[lacerto]

(...)

[CLush]

Hi,

With Publisher 1.8, I exported my file to PDF, and it came out 2.5MB, now with 1.9, it is over 6MB, whether I use 72DPI or 144DPI. This is going to be uploaded to a server and the smaller the better, but I can't figure out what changed for such a huge increase. Nothing that I know changed in the file. Is this expected? Is there an option I need to change to get it smaller, again? Thanks.

[amv]

Using Affinity Designer 1.9.1 on a Macbook Pro with OSX 10.15.7 - need to merge multiple images (scanned pages) into one file for export into PDF:

i) mutiple file option under File-Open does not exist and drag/drop into a new Document is not working

ii) drop in or merge options are not available

iii) when exporting into pdf print sizes are now massive, regardless of DPI slected

Help please...?

 

[Willouj]

If I were you I would skip using Affinity Designer for this task. I open up and merge jpg files right in Apple Preview—I'm using OS 11.1 but I think it's similar in older versions. I open up the jpg file in Preview, make sure the thumbnail panel is showing, and then drag the files I want to merge from my desktop into the thumbnail bar. You can arrange the pages in the thumbnail bar and then export the file as a pdf. I recently discovered that Preview can do more than I realized, which is awesome because I'm no longer using Acrobat Pro. Hope this works for you as well 🙂

[camPL]

I was looking for a solution for large files exporting as PDF from affinity publisher. I found a solution and it may be useful to someone. I export a pdf file and use 200 DPI (the file size is 19 mb). Then I open the saved pdf file in publisher and choose export as PDF again choosing 200 DPI (the file is 1.97 mb) and the quality is the same.

[Tom McGrath]

I have this problem also....the pic files are all linked and 6 images in the A4 page are less than 10mb in total....yet the PDF is 48MB.....for a single A4 document with six images!!!!!! I recreated the same with InDesign.......PDF file = 1.48mb. Something's amiss.....I'm a newcomer to AP it must be said.

[RonMD]

yes this is the first time for me since using affinity that i notice a feature adobe is much better in,... but then pdf was an adobe invention. I didn't have any succes getting smaller files using affinity but using an online pdf compressor created an 8mb file from and 84mb file so that is my solution for now. Hope affinity will solve this.