Illustrator CS5 file saving question

[deadman]

when i save a file, say 4'x8', as an .eps, the file ends up being around 6mb. it contains all vector shapes, no images, or transparencies. is there a way to reduce the file size?

 

[Bly]

Save without a preview.

 

[garisimo]

There's a discussion about this on Adobe's forums -- basically, AI wants to save files as PDFs, and throws a bunch of stuff in there (preview) -- turn this off and the file sizes are much smaller, and save quicker, too. I'm away from my computer right now else I'd find the discussion. Cheers!

 

[deadman]

I am a novice in the Adobe world. Logic told me to look through the preferences menu. Silly me, right? Where do I go to turn off the save preview feature?

 

[J Hill Designs]

eps dialogue - preview to none instead of tiff

 

[deadman]

Thanks!

 

[James Burke]

There's a discussion about this on Adobe's forums -- basically, AI wants to save files as PDFs, and throws a bunch of stuff in there (preview) -- turn this off and the file sizes are much smaller, and save quicker, too. I'm away from my computer right now else I'd find the discussion. Cheers!

Turning off the "Create PDF Compatible File" option really does the trick. I took a 54.4 MB file (heavy with photos) down to a paltry 1.4 MB. Thanks for the excellent time and memory saver.

On an interesting side note, I took the 54.4 MB file originally created in CS5 and opened it in CS6. I left the “Create PDF Compatible File” option turned ON. I made no changes to the file, just saved it as a CS6 file. The results: 26MB

Anybody know why? (64 bit vs. 32 bit?)


JB