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.