Affinity publisher PDFs too large

[Nivrams]

I produce a 2-side mailer in Publisher that generated a huge PDF. I recreated the job in Xpress and generated a PDF 1/7th the size.

There are other things that I don't like in Publisher (too many layers are generated, for instance) but they usually have work arounds & learning curves. Bloated PDFs are another thing. They are slow to load and quickly get too large for conventional email. In this case the Publisher file was 4 times the size of the Xpress file. The art in both files are the same. There are fewer options, as far as PDF creation goes, in Publisher than in Xpress.

Both these PDFs are intended for print. The point is that if Publisher generates bloated PDFs, then it is not yet a pro application. Or have I done something wrong.

Viera Mailer #4 APub.pdf

Vieira Mailer #4.pdf

[Callum]

Hi Nivrams,

Welcome to the forums,

If possible could you provide the afpub file for this document so I can try this at my end?

Thanks

C

[R C-R]

I don't know much about PDF versions but the two files do not use the same one (version 7 for the one created in Affinity Publisher & version 1.4 for the other) & have different page dimensions (9.45 × 11.95 inches vs. 9.25 × 11.75 inches respectively) so it seems to me like an apples to oranges comparison.

[Nivrams]

Hi, BofG,

I did revisit the file, and even though I couldn't find the source of the stacked halftones, I replaced all the halftones with what I knew to be Jpgs. The result was a 3.5 megabit file which was the equivalent of the Xpress one. Is there a "Usage" window that list the document's elements and links, with descriptions, such as Xpress & Indesign have?

Adobe takes PSFs and makes compact PDFs. I wish affinity could do the same with their files. Must be tough getting around Adobe's copyrights.

Thanks for your insight.

MarvS

[Bryce]

You are looking for the resource manager

 

 

 

One of the reasons the files are so large is because of saving history.

As for the PDF - Affinity usually includes more data. It also does a better job of drop shadows and effects rather than just making it JPG's - which can cause colors shifts compared to machines that are identifying calibrated pantone colors.

 

Here is also what Pitstop shows for your PDFs (The top is from Affinity):

 

There is much higher resolution in the Affinity file - not that for print it would matter. You may want to look at your export settings. 1900 DPI is why the size is so large, especially with two being layered on top of each other.

[Nivrams]

Thank you, Bryce, the Resource Manager would have revealed my errors. Perhaps even informing me of the 2 copies of the same oversized halftone that were inflating the size of the file. I now know how to do this. I replaced all photos with what I knew were .jpgs and ended up with a reasonable 3.5 megabite file that loaded rapidly. Perhaps the "sandwich" file was the Affinity Photo file with layers. Resource Manager would have revealed this. I always check the links to make sure the process photos are CMYK. Now I know where to do it in Publisher.

Thanks, again.

MarvS