Cropped PDF . . . but is it really?

[Warren_Bach@adobeforums.com]

I often have to take large PDFs, crop them & reduce the file size for use on the web.

I have noticed that if I take an 8-1/2"x11" PDF, and crop it down to a 5"x5" image, that it really has not cropped the page. If I open this 5"x5" image in photoshop, it will show the entire original 8-1/2"x11" PDF.

So I am wondering if there is anyway to get Acrobat to totally remove the information when it crops and not just hide it. I would think this is making my 5x5 PDF larger than it should be because it is still holding onto the original information.

[Aandi_Inston@adobeforums.com]

Acrobat's cropping is a simple matter of setting a box. You can at any
time change the cropping, including removing it to restore the
original page. Acrobat doesn't have destructive cropping.

Aandi Inston

[Warren_Bach@adobeforums.com]

So then it makes no sense to crop a pdf in acrobat to make the file size smaller?

[pjonesCET@adobeforums.com]

Wouldn't make a lot of difference if it could. But if you want to try to make a cropped version.

Try this Crop as desired using croping tool.

THen save as a PDF file in another name (use save as command) That "should just make a Pdf of what you have within the cropped area.

I think I am right Other s can jump in and say yeah or neigh.

[peter kleinheider]

Cropping a page (reducing the size of the MediaBox) does not reduce the file size. What you want is to downsample the images and use a higher compression on them. This can be performed using the "Optimize PDF".

[pjonesCET@adobeforums.com]

Pete, not according to his original post he want a 5 by 5 page as opposed to an 8-1/2 by 11. I don't know whether he can get down as samll as he wants. But what you are suggesting would just change howlarge or small the "File" size is not the "Page" size.

He actually would be better to work in Photo Shop and reduce the size then creat a PDF which he can alter the file size in and do other minor tweaks in Acrobat.

[peter kleinheider]

Hi

Sorry, I should have read the complete mail first.

You can not reduce the pagesize of the PDF with the tools available in Acrobat. if content would then lie outside of the new page dimension. Other 3rd party PlugIns are needed for this task.

The best thing would really be to crop the PDF with the known method, print the croped area to PS, generating a new PDF with Distiller settings appropriate for WEB.
Or invest in proper tools.

Peter

[Unregistered]

I am assumming you have a full version of acrobat as you are talking about cropping pdfs. The only way I have been able to discard the data outside of the crop area is to print the PDF to another PDF. The Adobe PDF printer strips out data not inside the cropped area and creates a new PDF of just the cropped area. Not sure if third party PDF printers do this as wll, but I would assume so. I do not think you lose any characteristics of the PDF, just the extraneous data that you did not want there to begin with. And it dramatically reduces the file size.