[GIS] ArcMap is exporting to extremely large pdf files

arcgis-9.3exportpdf

My organization has one user who recently has noticed very large pdf files being exported from her mxds. When I recreate and do the export, I am getting a 4mb file (normal). When she exports the file we are seeing a 2.4 GB file. I changed some settings and was able to get it down to 1GB, but that wasn't satisfactory (obviously).

Things we have recently tried:

-Deleted the normal.mxt (reduced pdf size to 100mb)

-Turned off the setting that saves the spatial information in the pdf

-DPI is at 300

It isn't an overly large mxd. Normal vector data with some labeling. The pdf size is 42" x 60".

Any ideas on what to try next? She is on an ArcEditor 9.3.1 license.

Best Answer

I have had a similar problem where exported PDF would be larger than should be considering the data. In the Export window, I went to the Format tab and changed the Picture Symbol to Vectorize and in the Advance tab I changed the Layers and Attributes drop down to None. Things that used to be in the 50 Megabyte range were now under a Megabyte.

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[GIS] How to Prevent Data Driven Pages From Hanging on Subsequent Export

Based on comments from @Adam, I used a Python script to export my Data Driven Pages MXD with no problems with hanging on subsequent exports. Using Python for the exports appears to have solved the problems I was having.

I used the following script which I added to an ArcMap Toolbox as a script. (The script will only run through Toolbox, since there are parameters included.)

#Set Input Parameters
mxd = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0) 
PDFpath = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1) 
PDFname = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(2)

#Create an MXD object
mxd_doc = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(mxd) 

#Export to DDP 
ddp = mxd_doc.dataDrivenPages 
ddp.exportToPDF(PDFpath + r"\\" + PDFname + ".pdf", "ALL") 
del mxd, mxd_doc, PDFname, PDFpath

I would like to further modify my script to be able to specify which pages should be exported (instead of defaulting to "ALL") but this works sufficiently for what I need now.

[GIS] Exporting reduced size PDF in ArcMap

It will possibly be a bit of testing to find what works best for you.

Try adjusting your DPI down until it produces a better file size but still readable, or adjust the Raster quality down slightly. Then combine these two acceptable settings and determine if the file size is small enough yet readable.

My settings are set to 200dpi and image quality to 1:2 (between Normal and Best).

The Format tab on the also has options for compression and quality.

Check if you output layers, georeference info, or attribution (on the Advanced tab) and turn off any that aren't required as these can make the PDFs very large.

Best Answer

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[GIS] How to Prevent Data Driven Pages From Hanging on Subsequent Export

[GIS] Exporting reduced size PDF in ArcMap

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