resize / crop pictures to final output size

[patrick_brackmann@adobeforums.com]

Hi board,
we are having problems with extrem large AI Files.
The Document contains around 40 to 50 linked eps pictures,
which are scaled down, masked and so.
What is the fasted way to get rid of the masked out areas
and bring the pictures to their final print size.
For example..
- A pictures has 300 dpi by 20 x 20
- gets placed in AI and scaled down to 10 x 10
Normaly you would resize it in Photoshop and relink it.
But I need a much faster - maybe scripting - way,
and having the pictures external, not embedded, is a must.
Any tips, ideas, etc. are really appreciated.
Thanks a lot,
Pat

[Scott_Weichert@adobeforums.com]

Wow, to be honest it sounds like a workflow issue. With that many embedded images a layout application would be best and you should work at size when placing raster art always.

[Scott_Falkner@adobeforums.com]

Try saving your files as non-editible PDFs, optimized for your output resolution. You could aslo export a rasterized PSD or TIF.

Keep the original Illustrator files for editing. These master files should use links instead of embedded images, and will be mush smaller if saved without PDF compatibility.

[patrick_brackmann@adobeforums.com]

Thanks to both of you,
as a workaround, that is exactly what I did...
creating groups of raster pics and exporting them as a
pdf (because i have also transparency over the eps pics - some glows), than open in photoshop rastering to 300dpi, replacing
the pics by the one resulting tif from photoshop.
I wasn`t aware of quality and color but checking the
separations in photoshop the color looked the same.
What about the quality...?
Do I need to resharpen the new created image?
Thanks,
Pat