Images and pdfs .... again

If you are having problems with QCAD, post here. Please report bugs through our Bug Tracker instead.

Always attach your original DXF or DWG file and mentions your QCAD version and the platform you are on.

Moderator: andrew

Forum rules

Always indicate your operating system and QCAD version.

Attach drawing files and screenshots.

Post one question per topic.

Post Reply
jackieh
Active Member
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:45 pm

Images and pdfs .... again

Post by jackieh » Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:30 am

Hi again
I am back working on the project with the enormous scaled photographs. I have reduced them by half (using GIMP) so that I can mark them up no problem in QCAD, but I was wondering if you could help with a related problem, namely the size of the pdfs I am making from them. Every time I make a pdf, the file size is the same as the photograph I am using (27.5 MB is the largest - and I don't want to reduce the pixels/resolution further), which makes printing and use in documents difficult.

This is true even if the pdf covers only a small part of the photo/drawing, and is also completely unlike the astonishing compressive properties of making a pdf from a picture-heavy word document for example.

I have no idea how difficult it would be to fix this, or how many people regularly use photos in QCAD like I do, but I can't tell you how grateful I'd be for a solution!

Looking forward to hearing from you, Jackie

User avatar
andrew
Site Admin
Posts: 9037
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by andrew » Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:47 am

If you're on macOS or Linux, you might want to "print" to PDF instead, using the PDF export of the operating system instead of the Qt PDF export under File > PDF Export. That might make a difference.

User avatar
Husky
Moderator/Drawing Help/Testing
Posts: 4935
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 am
Location: USA

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by Husky » Fri Jan 19, 2018 3:46 am

If you're on Windows 10 you can use "Microsoft Print to PDF". If your Win Versions is lower than 10 you need a third party print driver. A lot of those are for free ... :D
Work smart, not hard: QCad Pro
Win10/64, QcadPro, QcadCam version: Current.
If a thread is considered as "solved" please change the title of the first post to "[solved] Title..."

jackieh
Active Member
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:45 pm

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by jackieh » Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:21 am

Thanks - I am on Windows 10, so I tried MS print to pdf. This helps a little bit, in that if I make a pdf of half the drawing, then the file size is also half. If you come across any other ways to make the pdf file size smaller, without changing the resolution of the linked photos, then do get back to me.

Thanks again, Jackie

User avatar
Husky
Moderator/Drawing Help/Testing
Posts: 4935
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 am
Location: USA

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by Husky » Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:58 pm

jackieh wrote:If you come across any other ways to make the pdf file size smaller, without changing the resolution of the linked photos, then do get back to me.
It isn't a problem to reduce the size of a pdf but without a precisely usable example of your goals it makes no cense to write down all ideas just out of the blue.
E.g. if I take for testing a Photo (Size 3410 KB) of mine into a simple QCAD drawing and create 4 pdf's with different parameters then the result is
211 KB,
1483 KB,
2220 KB,
4394 KB
for the pdf sizes. Which one fits your desired file size/quality goal? :?
Work smart, not hard: QCad Pro
Win10/64, QcadPro, QcadCam version: Current.
If a thread is considered as "solved" please change the title of the first post to "[solved] Title..."

jackieh
Active Member
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:45 pm

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by jackieh » Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:27 pm

Sorry not to get back to you on this - I've been on site rather than in the office. My goals are multiple:
* A set to print out and check on site @ 1:50; as I only have a small printer, that means sections at A4, and I've already done this, as the print to pdf reduces the file size sufficiently
* A final set at A2 to form part of the cathedral archive, with the whole drawing/photo, plus key etc. also at 1:50
* A set at a slightly smaller scale (probably 1:60) to incorporate into the project report, hopefully, though not necessarily with one whole drawing/photo on (mostly notional) A3 fold-outs. This is the most difficult part, as the word file will be enormous (there are 8 drawing files, linked to 19 photos, totally c.150MB using the reduced files), before it is turned into a pdf again.

Any further thoughts you have most welcome.

Thanks again, Jackie

User avatar
andrew
Site Admin
Posts: 9037
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by andrew » Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:36 pm

Perhaps a PDF compressor can help. Just google "PDF compressor" or "PDF compressor for Windows". Under macOS, this is built in, not sure about Windows.

User avatar
Husky
Moderator/Drawing Help/Testing
Posts: 4935
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 am
Location: USA

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by Husky » Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:11 am

jackieh wrote:This is the most difficult part, as the word file will be enormous (there are 8 drawing files, linked to 19 photos, totally c.150MB using the reduced files), before it is turned into a pdf again.
Sorry Jackie - you lost me. :oops:
I have no idea how to blow a Word document to a size of 150 MB with 8 drawings (how you inserted the drawing?) and 19 photos. Or is your Word Paper size A2?
If I put 10 Photos (16x24 cm) in a A4 Word document and each photo has an original size of 20MB then the saved Word document has less than 2 MB. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong ...
Work smart, not hard: QCad Pro
Win10/64, QcadPro, QcadCam version: Current.
If a thread is considered as "solved" please change the title of the first post to "[solved] Title..."

jackieh
Active Member
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:45 pm

Re: Images and pdfs .... again

Post by jackieh » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:35 pm

Sorry for the slow replies - working on other things at the moment, and just trying to sot this out before I start the report (very soon!). I'll try to be a bit clearer.

The A2 pdfs will be just that - not part of a report

The report will contain A3 pdfs. When I put 53 photos in a word document (real example), I end up with a word document that is 143MB, but a pdf document that is 8MB. If I can start off with pdfs from QCAD (incorporating the massive orthophotographs) that are smaller than 20MB, it will be easier to use word! But if word doesn't complain too much, then I won't either!

Thanks again - and sorry to keep bothering you.
Jackie

Post Reply

Return to “QCAD Troubleshooting and Problems”