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Ring in the New Year with smaller PDFs

As 2011 comes to a close and we gear up for 2012, our New Year’s resolution is to make working with PDF files even easier for our users.  Nitro has already taken a step in the right direction by producing simple and easy-to-use PDF software like the all-new Nitro Pro 7 and our free Nitro Reader.

However, once you’ve created a PDF file, it can still be a strain on your hard drive or a headache to email if it’s too large.  Here are some handy tips from our blog archives to reduce the size of your PDF file and hopefully reduce the number of headaches you have in 2012!

 

1. re-create the pdf to reduce pdf file size

A handy trick for reducing PDF file size is to re-create or ‘re-fry’ your PDF. By creating the PDF again you can strip out plenty of unwanted objects, remove tags, and compress images further. You can do this with any tool that supports ‘print to PDF’ functionality. For this trick you can use our free Nitro Reader.

-Open the PDF file

-Click Fileà Print

-Select Nitro PDF Creator 2 from the list of printers

-Click the Properties button and select Web-ready Conversion Quality

-Click OK.

 

 

2. reduce pdf file size with ‘save as’

If you use a PDF editor like Nitro Pro you can make use of the ‘Save As’ functionality to trim some fat off your PDF files. Chris Dahl, our VP of Desktop explained it succinctly:

PDF files have something that is called incremental updates, where any changes that you make to a document is appended to the end of the file without doing a complete rewrite. This is why the Save feature is much faster than a Save As, and also why PDF files saved this way can be large. The Save As feature will rewrite the entire file and provide you with a smaller file size.

 

So, to shrink the PDF, do the following:

-Open the PDF in Nitro Pro

-Click File à  Save As.

 

3. remove unwanted objects

PDF files can contain a bunch of different objects, including bookmarks, links, annotations, form fields, JavaScript, Named Destinations and embedded fonts — all of which can be removed from an existing PDF file. Like tip two it requires a PDF editing tool such as Nitro Pro.

-Open the PDF in Nitro Pro

-Click File > Optimize PDF > Select the Remove Objects tab.

-Choose the objects to remove

-Click Optimize

 

 

4. shrink all images in pdf files

For PDF files that contain many images, downsampling all of them can make a noticeable difference.

-Open the PDF in Nitro Pro

-Click File > Optimize PDF

-Pick from one of the 5 preset image quality options or select Custom for further compression choices

-Click OK, then Optimize

 

The last thing you want is to put in the effort to make a large PDF document only to find out it’s too large to send to anyone. Luckily, you can save time and headaches with these simple, easy-to-use tips as well as working more efficiently with Nitro.  You can download a free 14-day trial of Nitro Pro here: www.nitropdf.com/try/.

Related posts:

  1. Shrink large PDF files: The difference between 'Save' and 'Save As'
  2. Preview PDFs in the browser with no PDF viewer in sight
  3. 5 Tricks to Reduce PDF File Size
  4. Differences between Save and Save As
  5. How to Set Your Default PDF Viewer/Reader
  • Tim Bowman

    This is one of the most helpful set of tips published this year!!

  • Paul Viellieux

    The last several months i’ve been getting spammed with your email to “Activate your PrimoPDF newsletter subscription”. I’ve clicked “unsubscribe” probably a dozen times and I still keep getting them. Now, today I’ve gotten 3 of them in the span of 2.5 hours… puleeeze… Don’t you think this is getting ridiculous? I know I do….

    Please remove me from your mailing lists once and for all.

    • http://www.nitropdf.com Spencer Jenkins

      Hi Paul,

      Very sorry to hear that! The last thing we want to do is bombard you with emails so I will work to remove you from our list. Thank you for reaching out and again I’m very sorry we bombarded you with emails.

      Cheers,
      Spencer
      Marketing Coordinator

  • Robin McGrath

    I see nothing (obvious) here to indicate that users of other versions of Nitro PDF Pro can upgrade to this version.
    Having only last year purchased version 6.2.3.6, I would expect to be able to upgrade to this version, either for free or at greatly reduced price.
    Please indicate if this is possible and if not, why not.
    Regards.

    • http://www.nitropdf.com Spencer Jenkins

      Hi Robin,

      You certainly can upgrade to Nitro Pro 7 depending on when you bought version 6. You’re definitely eligible for version 7 and this page will outline whether it’s free or $49.99. You can check here: http://www.nitropdf.com/buy/upgrade.aspx. Please let me know if you have any more questions or problems receiving your upgrade. Thanks!

      Cheers,
      Spencer
      Marketing Coordinator

  • Adrian Quinn

    Great tips, have experienced recently issues with PDF file sizes especially communicating them via email. These tips will help enormously.

    Thanks

    • http://www.nitropdf.com Spencer Jenkins

      Hi Adrian,

      That’s great to hear! We always like to hope that our tips benefit you in some way! I really appreciate you being so kind! Please let me know if you ever have any more concerns or questions.

      Cheers,
      Spencer
      Marketing Coordinator

  • Bill

    How about providing this information in an easy-to-print format, like maybe a PDF?

    • http://www.nitropdf.com Spencer Jenkins

      Hi Bill,

      I can definitely email you a PDF version of that if you’d like! Will send it through shortly.

      Cheers,
      Spence
      Marketing Coordinator

  • http://home.windstream.net/joelwest/ Sujal

    Hi Spencer.

    Please send a copy of PDF to me too. sujal.u[at]gmail.com

    Gr8 tips. Thanks for sharing.

    • http://www.nitropdf.com Spencer Jenkins

      Hi Sujal,

      Just sent it. Have a good day!

      Cheers,
      Spence

  • Hans Maerker

    Having worked for ‘Corporate America’ before as a technical instructor, I was heavily involved in writing system training manuals and publish them as PDF files. No need to mention that this was done with several Adobe tools. So, these little ‘Nitro Tips’ are quite familiar to me due to my former work.

    However, since I’m on my own and back in Europe again, I first worked with my own Adobe tools but then bought Nitro PDF Pro for my small business and never looked back. Well done guys ! I can’t count the times in the past when I wished that Acrobat wouldn’t be so ‘blown up’ and go back to the initial idea and reasons for creating PDFs.

    Nitro PDF Pro fulfills that wish and now in version 7 even more than in the former version 6. This and the free Nitro Reader are the ideal combination with I always longed for. All the needed features are there but with a much smaller footprint and for a fraction of the price of Adobe’s tools.

    The reason why I’m ranting about it is, that I was/am in publishing and really can compare Nitro with Adobe. No matter how heavy and extended the publishing is, Nitro does the job and even in a more user friendly way than Adobe. It’s just perfect for small businesses and even large companies, that are concerned about their budget.

    Adobe Acrobat as well as Adobe Reader are taken off my computer now and completely replaced by Nitro. Best move I ever did.

    P.S. I love the newsletter with those little useful tips we had to find out ourselves in the corporate world long ago. Those little tips are priceless for newcomers and save anybody time and the “what if …” approach.

    • http://www.nitropdf.com Spencer Jenkins

      Hi Hans,

      That is one of the best comments we’ve ever received by far. It is awesome hearing how much you like Nitro and how you use it both personally and professionally. I’m blown away with how much of a champion of Nitro you are! It’s users like you that we love! Thanks so much for reaching out and providing such a comprehensive response. Would you mind if we re-published this comment as a separate post on our blog? We can use an alias if you’d like or just Hans M.

      I’d really like to hear more about how you use Nitro with your publishing company. If you have time, could you email me at spencer.jenkins@nitropdf.com and we can discuss how you use Nitro Pro. I’m very interested in writing a customer profile about you and can definitely provide some more incentives to make it worthwhile on your end.

      Thanks again for such a great post and I look forward to speaking with you further! Have a great day!

      Cheers,
      Spencer
      Marketing Coordinator

  • http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=017607476515012185699:b_owgx6xyi0 Sujal

    Thank you Spence.

    Cheers

  • Hans Maerker

    .@Spencer >> …Would you mind if we re-published this comment as a separate post on our blog? We can use an alias if you’d like or just Hans M.<<

    Not a problem at all. Go ahead and use it as a separate post on you blog, like you indicated :-) We are in the middle of moving at the moment and that really keeps me busy. I'll get in touch with you via email after the move is done and when "the dust has settled". So, if you don't hear from me for a while, don't think that I've forgotten about you. I saved your email. Just wanted to send a quick response, not to appear mum or to be impolite.

    Hans

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