Portable Document Format (PDF) is the defacto file format for presenting device-independent documents on and off the Web. While PDFs have become quite popular on the Web, many PDFs used in web sites are designed for high quality print output and are not optimized for the Web.

Creating Small PDFs

The main factors in creating small PDFs are image resolution, image type (bitmap or vector), the number of fonts used and how they are embedded, PDF version, and the level of compression. In general the higher the PDF version number, the smaller the file. Acrobat 5 (PDF version 1.4) added JBIG2 compression, which is superior to the CCITT or Zip algorithms when compressing scanned monochromatic copy.

JBIG2 (Joint Bilevel Image Experts Group) encoding compresses monochrome (1 bit per pixel) image data from 20:1 to 50:1 for pages full of text. Like other dictionary-based algorithms (LZW, ZIP) JBIG2 creates a table of unique symbols and when a subsequent symbol matches one in the table, it substitutes a token pointing to the table index. JBIG2 also compresses the entire table.

Acrobat 6 (PDF version 1.5) added the ability to compress the entire file (Clean Up Settings dialog). However, since over 90% of Acrobat users have version 5.0 or greater, using PDF 1.4 is a safer alternative. Acrobat will usually display (with a warning) a more recent PDF version, but new compression schemes will spawn an error when opened in older versions of Acrobat. At the time of this writing, Adobe says that of those 90%, 50% use version 5 and 40% use version 6.

To create the smallest possible PDFs file size for the Web minimize the number of fonts, bitmapped images, and substitute vector based-graphics instead. Minimize the number and complexity of forms in your PDF document, and avoid the use of multimedia.

There are different methods to create PDFs, including outputting to PostScript and Distilling, GDI/Printing, one-click “Direct to PDF,” and dynamically on the server-side. However you create a PDF, the techniques and tools listed below can help you enhance and optimize your PDFs for the Web.

Avoid Refried Graphics

For graphics that must be inserted as bitmaps, prepare them for maximum compressibility and minimum dimensions. Use the best quality images that you can at the output resolution of the PDF. Inserting compressed JPEGs into PDFs and Distilling them may recompress JPEGs, which can create noticeable artifacts. Use black and white images and text instead of color images to allow the use of the newer JBIG2 standard that excels in monochromatic compression. Be sure to turn off thumbnails when saving PDFs for the Web.

Use Vector Graphics

Use vector-based graphics wherever possible for images that would normally be made into GIFs. Vector images scale perfectly, look marvelous, and their mathematical formulas usually take up less space than bitmapped graphics that describe every pixel (although there are some cases where bitmap graphics are actually smaller than vector graphics). You can also compress vector image data using ZIP compression, which is built into the PDF format. Acrobat Reader version 5 and 6 also support the SVG standard.

Minimize Fonts

How you use fonts, especially in smaller PDFs, can have a significant impact on file size. Minimize the number of fonts you use in your documents to minimize their impact on file size. Each additional fully embedded font can easily take 40K in file size, which is why most authors create “subsetted” fonts that only include the glyphs actually used.

Fix Fat Forms

Acrobat forms can take up a lot of space in your PDFs. You can use PDF Enhancer from Apago to reduce forms by 50% by removing information present in the file but never actually used. You can also combine a refried PDF with the old form pages to create a hybrid PDF in Acrobat.

Optimizing Existing PDFs

In many cases you won’t have access to the original document, just the resulting PDF file. Many PDFs we’ve seen are not fully optimized for the Web, using conservative settings more appropriate to high-resolution printers. For computer monitors viewing web-based PDFs, you don’t need high resolution images and exact reproduction of font faces, you just want to convey your information in an efficient way. Using the techniques outlined below, you can shrink your PDFs, while still maintaining the textual data for search engines, and reasonable quality for print output. Some webmasters offer two versions of their PDFs, once for fast web display, and one for printing.

Save As…

Once you’re done making changes to your PDF document choose File -> Save As and overwrite your existing PDF file. By default, save as removes changes that are appended to PDFs by the Save command, linearizes the file for fast web viewing, and removes unused objects.

The result is a compact, linearized PDF that displays the first page (or an arbitrary page) quickly, while the rest of the file downloads in the background. Although linearized PDFs are slightly larger, they also increase perceived speed. Note that optimizing a signed document will invalidate its signature.

By Andy King
http://www.websiteoptimization.com

More at: http://www.usedarticles.com/view/web-design-and-development/294.html

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1. How to Optimize PDF Files for your website or blog
2. Use iText to create PDF files dynamically
3. PDF Editor for AEC Industry

Ever had your Microsoft Word file explode from 1MB to 10MB in just a few minutes? In the tech writing world, Microsoft Word tends to get a bad rap.

One of the arguments put against Word is that its fairly unstable and prone to creating ‘horrors’, such as bloating in size until your (Microsoft!) operating system grinds to a halt.

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Compared with Adobe FrameMaker, this is true. FrameMaker is very stable, BUT can be awkward to use. Not even cut and paste…

I’ll admit it! I prefer Microsoft Word any day.

Bloated file sizes are a real problem. No-one will deny this. But, in the course of creating some long documents in MS Word, I’ve learned a few small secrets.

And these small secrets are guaranteed to save you ALOT of time.

The first offender is Bullet Lists. If there is one thing that’s guaranteed to destroy Word, its bullet lists.

Here’s what tends to happen.

When you click on the Bullet List from the Word toolbar, Word ‘points’ this Bullet List to the Normal.dot file.

In other words, it uses the default settings in the Normal.dot and applies these settings. Fine. No problem!

But… if you then cut and paste a Bulleted List from another document into your working file, Word gets very confused.

“What Normal.dot file do I now link to?”

AND, if you then use a special bullet style, it has a nervous breakdown…

What happens? Suddenly, your machine starts to grind while Word struggles to resolve this issue. And as it can’t, it crashes!

Here’s what to do instead!

1. In Word, create separate styles for each different bullet lists that you need, for example Bullet Regular, Bullet Indent, Bullet Square and so on.

2. When you need to use a bullet list, select the correct style from the drop-down menu.

3. If you want to import a bullet list from another document, first select the Clear Formatting option from the drop down menu (this removes all formatting) and then cut it into the working document. Then apply the correct style.

Follow these three steps and you’ll keep your Word docs happy and healthy.

PS: Please drop me a line at ivan klariti com and we’ll share it online.

ivanwalsh.blogspot.com

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Related posts:

1. How to Quickly Reduce Microsoft Word File Size – Secret #1
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3. How to Quickly Reduce Microsoft Word File Size – Secret #2

When you open a document in Microsoft Word, margin marks or crop marks may appear on each corner of the page. Crop marks are markers that appear in the top left and right of your Microsoft Word documents. These are called ‘crop marks’.

To remove these, you have to disable Asian language support.

These markers often appear after you open a file which has an Asian language setting; Microsoft Office might activate this setting to display embedded fonts. It’s just trying to be helpful. The thing is: how do you remove it?

What causes Crop Marks?

This occurs if you have one of the following Asian languages turned on in
Microsoft Office Language Settings:

• Chinese (Traditional)
• Chinese (Simplified)
• Japanese
• Korean

Margin marks or crop marks are different from text boundary marks. To turn on or turn off text boundaries, use the Text boundaries option in Microsoft Word.

FWIW: these steps worked at the time of writing but (as you may know) things
change with Microsoft applications, so you may have to experiment a little.

How to remove margin marks in Word 2003

Before you start, make sure that the Text boundaries option in Word is not
selected.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Start Word 2003.
• On the Tools menu, click Options.
• In the View tab, under Print and Web Layout options, verify that the Text boundaries check box is selected.
• If the Text boundaries check box is selected, click to clear the Text
  boundaries check box.
• Remove all the Asian languages from the Enabled languages list.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office
  Tools, and then click Microsoft Office 2003 Language Settings.

• In the Enabled languages list, select and remove all the languages
  that you do not use except English (U.S.).

To do this, follow these steps:

• In the Enabled languages list, select a language that you want to remove, and then click Remove.

• Click OK to update the language settings.

Note: You can also press the CTRL key and select more than one
language, and then click Remove to remove those languages.

How to remove margin marks in Word 2002

Make sure that the Text boundaries option in Word is not selected.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Start Word 2002.
• On the Tools menu, click Options.
• In the View tab, under Print and Web Layout options, verify that the Text boundaries check box is selected.
• If the Text boundaries check box is selected, click to clear the Text
  boundaries check box.
• Remove all the Asian languages from the Enabled
  languages list.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office
  Tools, and then click Microsoft Office XP Language Settings.
• In the Enabled languages list, select and remove all the languages
  that you do not use except English (U.S.).

To do this, follow these steps:

• In the Enabled languages list, select a language
  that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
• Click OK to update the language settings.

How to remove margin marks in Word 2000

Make sure that the Text boundaries option in Word is not selected. To do
this, follow these steps:

• Start Word 2000.
• On the Tools menu, click Options.
• On the View tab, verify that the Text boundaries check box is selected under Print and Web Layout options.
• If the Text boundaries check box is selected, click to clear the Text
  boundaries check box.

How to remove Asian languages from Microsoft Word

To do this, follow these steps:

• Click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office Language Settings.
• In the Enabled languages list, remove all the languages that you
  do not use except English (U.S.).

To do this, follow these steps:

• Open the Enabled languages list
• Select a language that you want to remove, and then click
  Remove.
• Click OK to update the language settings.

For Word 2003 users, you can try turning off these markers by going to Start,
All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office 2003
Language Settings.

Let me know if this works for you. If not, please drop me a line.

PS – If you’ve found this article useful, please consider giving us a Digg or StumbleUpon.

Regards,

Ivan

Twitter / Facebook / Flickr / Templates /  Tips

Related posts:

1. How to change the list of document options in Word 2007
2. Frank Rice’s Tips When Using Word 2003
3. Word 2003 Tip – How to Search for and Remove Text Formatted As Hidden

In Word, if you go to the Font Size drop-down menu, the largest value shown is 72 point.

However, to get whatever font size you like – up to 999.5 points – just type in the number and Word will update the font size.

Try it!

Related posts:

1. How to add sound To Word Documents
2. How to Resize Fonts in Word 2003
3. Create Underlined Spaces That Remain When Typed On

this is just like the 3D template, but with a simple blue border around the page.

Page with Blue Border.doc

Ideal for flyers, brochures and newsletters.

Ivan

Related posts:

1. Free Word Template – Page with 3D Border
2. Using Master Templates in Adobe FrameMaker

We’ve had many requests for blank Word templates with 3D borders.

You can download this one for free here.

Page with 3 d Border.doc

The border is dark blue.

If you’ve any questions about how to change it, let me know.

Ivan

Related posts:

1. Using Master Templates in Adobe FrameMaker

Master templates let you control the format and positioning of every component in your FrameMaker document.

In plain English, this means that if you setup a footer as Arial, size 10, and then apply it to the main document, all footers will appear in this font and this size.

Sounds good !

But, what if you wanted to have different footers in the document?

You could hard-code every footer.

Hard code means you manually type in the footer.

That’s ok for a 5 page document —- but not if your creating a 250 page user guide. You need to automate the process, which is where templates come in. 

In FrameMaker, you can create different footers, identify each type, and then apply them where you wish. You can have different headers and footers for the Cover Page, Table of Contents, Index, Chapters, and Copyright pages.

Common Problems with Master Templates

One of the problems I’ve had was that even though I’d created the component, it didn’t appear in the document.

The main reason for this, especially for headers and footers, was that the previous entry was still there. In other words, you have to remove the previous header and then enter the new one. When you think about it, it makes sense, but if you don’t know you could get very frustrated.

Delete the ‘old’ header and insert the new ‘one’ instead. 

Tips and Tricks

Numbering chapters, headers, footers, and labels can cause all types of confusion.    

One trick I’ve learnt it to cut and paste template settings from a FrameMaker document I know works into the new document.

In the first document (you know works), open the template settings, and select the section you want to copy.  

In the document you want to update, open the template settings, and paste where appropriate.

Click Apply and return to the main document.

Your changes should now be reflected in the second document. 

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