Let's say you have a PDF report that is about 30 MB in size, how do you send it over the email? This is a common dilemma that many people find themselves in especially when they want to send a large PDF file over Gmail. This is because Gmail limits the size of files uploaded to an email to 25 MB only. This means that if you have a large PDF file you have to find a way to optimize it. One of the best tools you can use to optimize your PDF file is the Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer. Luckily many people already have the Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer because they tend to love Adobe products for the simple reason that it is Adobe that created the PDF. If you have never used Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer then below are the steps to follow to optimize your large PDF file use Adobe Acrobat PDF Optimizer and its alternative.
Adobe PDF optimizer belongs to the same family as the Adobe PDF reader that you most probably use regularly to open and read PDF files. They are both created by the same company that created the PDF file format itself. This should perhaps tell you why Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer is one of the best PDF optimizers in the market. As expected it comes with many different features and functionalities to make it easy for you to create edit and even convert your PDF files to different formats. It is also quite powerful and makes the work of optimizing a PDF file quite easy. To use Adobe PDF optimizer, simply follow these steps:
First, you need to download and install the Adobe Acrobat on your computer if you already do not have it. Next, subscribe for you to be able to use all its features. Now open the Adobe Acrobat program on your computer.
On the home screen select 'Tools' then find the 'Optimize PDF' button and click to open. Next on the window that opens locate and select the file you want to optimize. The Adobe PDF optimizer will open your PDF file and then let you choose amongst three optimization options; Optimize scanned pages, reduce file size and advanced optimization.
If you are working on a PDF file you created from scratch (not a scanned document) then select advanced optimization for the best result if your PDF file has many images and graphs. The optimization window will open where you will select the optimization settings you want and then click 'Ok' and then save your document. Alternatively, if your PDF file is made up of mainly of text then simply select the 'Reduce size option' and then follow the onscreen prompts to change settings and then save your file. Your file has been optimized and is now much small and can easily be sent via email and even uploaded to a website even those with limited bandwidth.
If on the other hand your PDF file is created from scanned documents then the best optimize it is for you to select the 'Optimized scanned pages' option. This is because scanned PDF files behave differently from a PDF created from a text document and will need a different approach in optimizing it.
Once you hit the 'Optimize scanned pages' button, an optimization window will open. Here select whether you want to optimize all pages, the current page or just a few specific pages and other settings such as color monochrome filters and even select to recognize text during the optimization. Once you are done with selecting your settings click ok. The Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer will go to work and optimize your file. Now close and save your file. It is now smaller in size and can be uploaded online or sent via email as you wanted.
Adobe Acrobat has way too much functionality and sometimes may be quite confusing. It is also quite expensive for an occasional user. If Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer doesn't seem like the right option for you then there are quite a number of alternative options for you out there. One of the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer is PDFelement Pro. Just like Adobe Acrobat, the PDFelement Pro is an all-in-one PDF tool. What this means is that you can use the PDFelement for almost any PDF function you want to perform. It can be used to create PDF files, convert PDF files to other file formats, annotate PDF files, edit PDF files, extract images and optimize PDF files among other functions. Despite all these many functionalities, the PDFelement Pro is powerful, faster and much simpler to use than the Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer.
To use the PDFelement Pro to optimize your PDF file simply follow these steps:
The first step you need to have the PDFelement Pro on your computer for you to use it. When you are ready to optimize your file. Now simply click 'Open File' to find and open the PDF file you want to optimize.
Now click the 'Convert' button on the top menu and click on the 'Optimize' option. Now you will be required to select the optimization option amongst three options: High, Medium and Low. Simply select an option and the PDFelement Pro will let you know the final size of your PDF file. You may change the option to one that gives you the best outcome. Next click 'Optimize' and the tool will optimize your file as you wanted and once done simply close and save your file.
If on the other hand, you have a scanned PDF file then this tool works slightly different than Adobe Acrobat PDF optimizer. This is PDFelement Pro is designed to immediately recognize the scanned document. In this case, follow these steps:
When the scanned PDF opened and immediately the PDFelement Pro will recognize that it is a scanned document then give you the option to 'Perform OCR'. For the best result simply hit the 'Perform OCR' button and then select the language and ticks the option to make the text editable and then click 'OK'. The program will do the rest for you.
Once the OCR process is completed, simply click on the 'File' button and then select 'Optimize'. Now chose the file size you want and then hit 'Optimize'. The PDFelement Pro will optimize your scanned PDF file and once the process is done you can now save the file on your computer and then send it over email as you wanted.
Ivan Cook
chief Editor