Exported PDF's very large compared to iD - Publisher - Win

[AdrianW]

Hi Folks
TL:DR
Same merge job with PDF export 28MB from Publisher vs. 10MB from iD

I was very happy to see QR Merge added in 2.6 and jumped right in as Publisher’s merge is SO much nicer/faster/friendlier!
Only problem is the Printer had a conniption over the resulting PDF bottlenecking his workflow.
Compressing the output with GhostScript eBook level (yes I’m that  old..) dropped it by about a 1/3, but ultimately to get the job out in time I had to renew the subscription to the unmentionables..

Is this expected? Can we have a compress option in the app? Thoughts appreciated – and no, using another print house isn’t an option…

Cheers

A.

[werfox]

Hi @AdrianW,

the software library that Affinity uses for PDF export (and import), PDFlib, is not as efficient in terms of file size (and has some other problems).
so larger PDF file sizes compared to InDesign exports are quite normal.

I understand that when you export a data merge job, there is a problem with static layout elements that are identical on all merged pages. They aren't just referenced, as InDesign can do, instead every occurrence is potentially included in the exported PDF. This increases the file size. There have been posts in the bugs section of the forum describing the problem, but no real solution, as far as I remember.

Of course, depending on the complexity of your layout, this could be the reason for the problems with the exported PDF at your printer.

If you can't get the file small enough with different export settings, even with external tools (like Ghostscript), there's probably little you can do, but someone else may have a better idea.

 

Best regards

[R C-R]

On 3/8/2025 at 12:41 AM, AdrianW said:

Only problem is the Printer had a conniption over the resulting PDF bottlenecking his workflow.

Just curious but did the printer explain how the larger(?) file size did that (or what exactly was meant by "bottlenecking")?

[AdrianW]

On 3/11/2025 at 11:14 AM, R C-R said:

Just curious but did the printer explain how the larger(?) file size did that (or what exactly was meant by "bottlenecking")?

Just that it took x times longer to move the files around 

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, AdrianW said:

Just that it took x times longer to move the files around 

Why would the printer have to move files around? Like from where to where?