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In the ad industry, it’s not uncommon to email large PDF files to clients. These large files are bandwidth hogs, can take a long time to send, and are often never received. Job seekers may have similar problems when attempting to send digital copies of their book to prospective employers.
Saving a high-res PDF is pretty straightforward, but when you need to send a 1-gig, multi-page PDF file over email, it can be tricky to shrink it appreciably while maintaining legibility of the type and image clarity. To avoid these issues, here’s one tried and true method to use that’s Launch Agency recommended.
To demonstrate, we’ll use a 310MB Photoshop file entitled “Example.psd.” First, save your file as a PDF. Don’t save with layers, as they will make your file larger, and you probably don’t want anyone else editing your file anyway. Your “Save As” window should look something like this: 
Second, choose the correct PDF settings, because, as you know, “the settings you choose in the Save Adobe PDF dialog can override your current settings in the Save As dialog box.” See the dialog box pictured below. Make sure to select “Press Quality”—this settings produces a smaller final product than the “Smallest File Size” option. 
Third, convert your PDF to a PostScript. To do this, open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat. Then go to “File” > “Save As” and select “PostScript” from the drop-down menu. Use the default settings for saving your .ps file.
Now that you have a PostScript file, open Acrobat Distiller. A window will pop up with a blank box for dragging and dropping files. Before adding your PostScript, select the “smallest files size” option from the drop-down menu. Then you’re ready to go.
Your final file will be a PDF and will be smaller than Acrobat alone is capable of delivering, at least without getting into compression. 
As you can see, the final size for our 310MB file is 55KB. Not bad for a file that looks high-res.
Now that your file size is as small as possible, it’s time to change its settings. Acrobat makes it possible to customize the viewing experience of each recipient. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can ensure your file will look good even when you’re not in control.
To start, open your PDF file in Acrobat. Go to “File” > “Properties.” Select the Initial View tab. From this tab, you can customize the way your file will be viewed. We recommend setting the Navigation tab to “Page Only,” the Page layout tab to “Single Page Continuous,” and the Magnification to “Fit Page.” It’s also aesthetically pleasing to check the box next to “Center window on screen.” If you select “Open in Full Screen mode,” viewers will be warned of possible security risks upon opening the file. It’s not recommended to select “Resize window to initial page” unless all of your pages are the same size or smaller than the first page. 
And voila, you have a small, high-quality PDF file that’s ready to share. Now that you’ve read our guide for saving and adjusting PDF files, let us know if you find it useful or have similar tips to share.
For information on other commonly used file types, check out production manager Laura Carroll’s post from last year.
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The Comerica Bank Collin 60 showcases the strongest, growing companies in the Collin County/North Texas area. The program, sponsored by the Collin County Business Press, honors the top 60 businesses headquartered in Collin County. There are over 15,000 such eligible businesses and, for the third year in a row, Launch has made the list.
“Despite the gloom of the economy, Launch increased billings and revenue in 2009,” remarked Michael Boone, Launch Principal, Account Director. “The Collin 60 was great group therapy to be with other successful companies — who also navigated through tough times — and celebrate past accomplishments and discuss prospects for growth this year.”
Launch debuted on the 2007 Top 60 list at #41. In 2008, we moved up to #35. And, for the tough year that was 2009, Launch grew and made the top half of the list in the #29 position. For a list of all the winners, click here: Collin 60 2010 final ranking.
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Art Director Madison McDaniel rounds out the Launch summer intern team (Copywriter, Account Service, and AD) as her student portfolio and design skills landed her the art director internship. Madison joins us from UNT’s Communication Design program where she also earned this year’s Launch Outstanding Achievement Scholarship for Art Direction. See for yourself how good she is on her portfolio site.
We gave Madison a break from computer layouts just long enough to ask some telling questions:
![Madison 1[5]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4700473992_2e6dbdceef.jpg)
Q: Are you an ocean
or lake person?
A: Ocean.
Q: Pen or pencil?
A: Pen.
Q: Favorite video game?
A: Mario Kart.
Q: Which platform?
A: N64.
Q: Favorite color?
A: Black.
When asked what her favorite flower was, Madison couldn’t think of one. (Perhaps this has something to do with her favorite color. After all, we’ve never seen a black flower.)
Q: Are you on Twitter?
A: Yes. @/_sealion.
Q: So you like sea lions?
A: It’s a Fiest song . . .
Q: So you like Fiest?
A: Yes.
Q: What do you want to accomplish at Launch?
A: I’d really like to go on a photo shoot, but I mostly want to immerse myself in the agency environment.
Well, good news for this small town (Brock, Texas), Johnny Cash-loving girl turned art director: she’ll become more immersed in agency life than she ever could have imagined. Welcome aboard, Madison!
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Caitlin Christopher is a Texan, born and bred. She was a dancer growing up, but now she’s a recent graduate of SMU, from the prestigious Temerlin Advertising Institute, with a major in advertising (and a minor in Spanish).
While in school, Caitlin completed an internship at The Richards Group, focusing in account planning. She also spent a summer studying abroad and visited Mother UK, Naked, Pentagram and Tribal DDB London. With that background, experience and eagerness to continue learning, Caitlin bested many other qualified candidates to earn the coveted Launch internship gig.
Caitlin may be an account service intern, but we tested her creative thinking with a round of Q&A.
Q: Paper or plastic?
A: Paper.
Q: Favorite nail polish color?
A: Fiji – by Essie.
Q: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: Greece. I’ve just always wanted to go there.
Q: What’s your favorite website?
A: Does Google Reader count?
Q: What do you want to get out of your internship at Launch?
A: I want to better understand the management side of advertising because my prior internship focused on account planning.
Q: What’s your favorite place in Dallas to get take-out?
A: Green Papaya. It’s like Vietnamese food, on Cedar Springs. Or Eatzi’s. (Eatzi’s, a former Launch client, is on Oak Lawn).
Q: What’s your favorite flower?
A: Stargazer lilies.
Q: What do you do in your free-time?
A: I dance a lot — in the car, sometimes walking down the street. Then I catch myself and realize other people can see me.
When she’s not dancing to a meeting, Caitlin is quietly tapping her feet under her desk.
Welcome to Launch, Caitlin.
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A new Mercedes-Benz dealership will open soon in Grapevine, Texas. To help Park Place Dealerships tout the groundbreaking, Launch Agency created invitations to the ceremonial event using some groundbreaking printing techniques.
Printed on Cromática lavender paper, the invites have the nostalgic look and feel of architectural blueprints. Art director Reuben Miller and print producer Laura Carroll worked closely with the printer, Colormark, to attain the right effect – first adding a layer of flood metallic blue ink to create the architectural “grid,” then double-bumping the white type to make copywriter Alex Slotkin’s copy pop off the page. The invites were sent in a white mailing tube to current Park Place customers and City of Grapevine VIPs.
Launch also created an online version of the invite using the same theme. To see it for yourself, check out the animated invite.
Despite impending thunderstorms, the May 20 event counted more than 100 guests, including the mayor of Grapevine, the head of the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce and a representative from Mercedes-Benz USA.
Park Place Motorcars Grapevine is expected to open in August of 2011 and will feature a 27,000-square-foot showroom, a service shop with 71 bays, and one of only two Park Place BodyWerks paint and body shops in DFW.
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Launch Agency welcomes a new digital specialist to the team. He answers to Jon, not Muse.
With the addition of Jon Fullrich, Launch is expanding its digital creative capabilities. David Wilgus, Launch Principal, Creative Director raves, “Jon is incredibly talented. He enhances our current offerings to our clients and can provide new innovations, which will allow us to lead our clients in the digital content arena.” Jon has a Masters Degree in Visualization Sciences from Texas A&M University, where he “learned everything I could about animation, video, and motionography.”
After a stint at interactive shop imc2, Jon freelanced for several top digital agencies, including Tribal DDB, and Click Here. In addition, he was part of some award-winning project work for Launch, which is how this beautiful relationship began.
We dove deeper and asked Jon some more revealing questions:
Q: Favorite sport?
A: Basketball and football . . . and some baseball. I played basketball in high school.
Q: Favorite spare time activity?
A: Watching sports and playing poker. I just played in my first real tournament and placed 106 out of 600.
(Not a bad debut.)
Q: Favorite animal?
A: I always liked penguins.
Q: Bow tie or Ascot?
A: I don’t know what an ascot is, so bow tie.
Q: Any pets?
A: A chihuahua named Bobinot and a black cat named Pepper.
Q: Most played song on iTunes?
A: “Home” by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.
Q: What’s one of your favorite artists?
A: M.C. Escher. His art is a blend of engineering, architecture, and optical illusion.
We’re happy to have Jon on the team.
Jon and his wife Leigh at a U2 concert
