How to Create a Small PDF
Using the Portable Document Format (PDF) for saving and storing documents is handy because it is widely used. Sometimes, however, PDF files can become large and unwieldy, making them difficult to open, email or download. There are steps that can be taken to minimize the size of PDF files.
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Instructions
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Ensuring a Small File Size for PDFs created from Word Documents with Adobe Acrobat Professional
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Open a Word document. Select "Adobe PDF>Change Conversion Settings."
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Select "Smallest File Size" in the "Conversion Settings" drop-down menu.
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Click "OK" to close the window.
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Select "File" and then "Print."
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Select "Adobe PDF" from the printer drop-down menu.
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Click "OK," and Adobe Acrobat Professional will create the PDF file.
Changing the file size in Adobe Acrobat Professional
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Open a PDF with Adobe Acrobat Pro.
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Select "Advanced" and then "PDF Optimizer."
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Click the "Audit Space Usage" button at the top right hand corner of the PDF Optimizer window. This will bring up a breakdown of what elements of the PDF are taking up space.
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Determine which element or elements of the file can be changed and change them. Select the different elements on the window on the left hand side of the optimizer window. For example, if images compose a significant part of the file size, select "Images" and then use the drop down windows to select "minimum" for the quality of all image types.
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Click "OK" and save the file once the changes have been made in the optimizer.
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Tips & Warnings
When saving a PDF always use the "Save As" option as opposed to "Save." Using the "Save" option will append changes to the current file, resulting in a larger file. "Save As" will rewrite the file, preventing bloat.
