PDF size

[Troy]

I am curious about how other firms are making their PDF's.

We are currently using AutoCAD MEP (2017) & Revit MEP (2019). When we make our PDFs we either use Bluebeam PDF in Revit or the built-in DWG To PDF.pc3 file in AutoCAD MEP. We used to use Bluebeam PDF in AutoCAD but found the DWG To PDF.pc3 makes the file size slightly smaller.

Our problem is when we make our PDFs, the size of the files is too large to email. We get emails from Architects with a couple of hundred pages, with images, fully colored sheets and renderings…and their file size is smaller than our 10-20 page, black and white PDFs. WHY???

One option that I was directed to a few years ago was to verify that the system variable in AutoCAD: EPDFSHX was set to 0 (zero). This helped very little.

Thank you for all your input.

[Cad64]

It could be that you have your PDF settings cranked up too high. You may need to tweak your settings to make sure you're getting the best quality at a reasonable file size.

 

It could also have something to do with the type of text you're using. I have found that Arial causes pdf size to increase, especially if you have an entire sheet filled with notes. It can really bloat the pdf.

[BIGAL]

Like cad64 have played with the dpi problem found for say an A1 sheet 200 dpi is fine, in dwg to pdf its set to 600dpi try say 400 as a minimum 180 dpi. The dpi is like a x squared increase in size.