PDF Export of 2D drawings results in LARGE file

kvdmolenp

Hi,

When I export certain 2D drawings to PDF, they become 5mb. Some others (not much simpler drawings) are under 100kb.

Now I can't send multiple PDF's in one email because it exceeds 20mb quickly,

Perhaps has to do with some history (reload part, edit drawing).

Any ideas to reduce the size?

Thanks!
Klaas

PeteYodis

@owen_sparks I'm fully awake here 

The post on the topic is here:  https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/24095#Comment_24095

And here is the crux of the matter from that discussion:  "The current PDF Export embeds the fonts within the PDF file that gets created.  This is done to ensure downstream consumers of the PDF file do not need the fonts installed on their device in order to see the text in the PDF.  Customers often want text to exist in the PDF to enable searching the contents of the PDF.  There is a coming improvement for settings on the export of PDF files from drawings to opt not to treat text this way, and instead treat the PDF as a pure image (no text).  This will reduce PDF file size, but will not yield PDF files that are searchable later on. "

owen_sparks

I believe there was a similar post citing particular fonts as causing an issue.  I'm sure an OS person will be along in a few hours once those blasted Americans have woken up and got out of bed...
Owen S,

PeteYodis

@owen_sparks I'm fully awake here 

The post on the topic is here:  https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/24095#Comment_24095

And here is the crux of the matter from that discussion:  "The current PDF Export embeds the fonts within the PDF file that gets created.  This is done to ensure downstream consumers of the PDF file do not need the fonts installed on their device in order to see the text in the PDF.  Customers often want text to exist in the PDF to enable searching the contents of the PDF.  There is a coming improvement for settings on the export of PDF files from drawings to opt not to treat text this way, and instead treat the PDF as a pure image (no text).  This will reduce PDF file size, but will not yield PDF files that are searchable later on. "

Rob_Campbell

I just encountered this and it is insane. I thought it must be creating 3D PDFs!

"Reprinting" it with another PDF tool (I use Foxit PDF viewer) creates a much smaller file with no resolution loss (it's still a vector-based file). 

Apparently, the default setting in SolidWorks is to include fonts as well, but for whatever, the resulting size of the PDF is 50-100X smaller. So either SolidWorks is not really embedding fonts, or there is a more elegant way to just embed what is necessary without the file ballooning. 

Rob_Campbell

I just re-read your response, @pete_yodis, and it sounds like OnShape may need to consult with a developer with more expertise in PDF, because my SolidWorks-created PDFs are searchable, look great, and - again - 50-100X smaller than OnShape PDF files.

Rasterizing the print sounds like a very poor way to address this.

PeteYodis

@Rob_Campbell There is definitely room for improvement when fonts are embedded.  That will be improved as we move forward as well.    We will be reducing the number of scenarios when a larger PDF file is created.  Our platform is different compared to a desktop installed system which sometimes makes these issues a little different.