Three Ways to Reduce PDF File Size

Most of you who have access to your county's Extension website frequently post Adobe PDFs on the site, as it is seen as a universal format, since it does not requite the end-user to buy anything, but merely download the Adobe Reader.

Just like images, it is a good idea to compress the size of your PDF document as much as possible, to save valuable file space on the web server.  Here are three ways to do so.

Save as a Reduced Size PDF. In Adobe Acrobat, choose File, then Save As, then Reduced Size PDF.  A screenshot is below, taken from Adobe Acrobat Pro X.  You'll then get a dialogue box asking for Acrobat version compatibility.  As it states in the dialogue box, the later version of Acrobat you choose, the lower the file size.

 

 Optimize the document.  In Adobe Acrobat, choose File, then Save As, then Optimized PDF.  Set Compression quality to Low (see screenshot below) for both Color and Grayscale Images.  For more control, you have a panel on the left to control which objects to compress (Images, Fonts, etc.).

 

Housecleaning.  Realize that when you delete a PDF file (or any other file) in your local copy of your website, that file is NOT deleted on the website itself.  So, perhaps twice a year, go into the site (in Dreamweaver's FTP use the Remote Panel, typically on the left) and delete any old PDFs (and any other files) that you no longer link to or use.  You will be surprised at the unused documents that can accumulate over the months.

Password Protecting PDF Documents

It is fairly easy to password protect PDF documents, online or offline. 

Go to the File menu, choose Properties, then go to the Securities tab. Choose Password Security.

Check the Require a Password... checkbox and enter a password.

Click OK, then re-enter the password when prompted.  You'll get a warning that security features won't be enabled until you resave the document.  Click OK to acknowledge the warning, and then OK one last time to close the dialogue box.

Then, resave the document to enable password security (preferably under a different document name so you can tell the two apart).

That's it.  If it's a PDF to be posted online, post it as you would normally.  Anyone trying to open the document,whether online or off, will encounter the dialogue box below.  Once they enter the correct password, they'll be able to access the document. 

Allowing Saved Data on PDF Forms

Anyone who has worked with an on-line PDF form has probably been frustrated by the following words in Adobe Reader: "You cannot save data typed into this form. Please print your completed form."

You can allow end-users to save their data on a form, however, even if they only have access to the free Adobe Reader. All you need to do is enable the Adobe Reader to save the data on your form. After you've completed your form, save it, so you have a copy.

Then, go to the File menu, choose Save As> Reader Extended PDF> Enable Additional Features (see screenshot below).

Now, when the end-user opens up that form, they will get the following message: "You can save data typed into this form."