PDF optimizer settings

PDF Generator supports the ability to reduce the size of PDF files. Whether you use all these settings or only a few depends on how you intend to use the files and on the essential properties that a file must have. In most cases, the default settings are appropriate for maximum efficiency - saving space by removing embedded fonts, compressing images, and removing items from the files that are no longer needed.

Note: Optimizing a digitally signed document removes and invalidates the digital signatures.

For instructions about accessing this setting, see Create or edit file type settings.

Target PDF Version:
Specifies the version of Acrobat that the PDF is compatible with.

Fonts

* New for LiveCycle ES4*

You can choose if you want to unembed all fonts embedded in a document or unembed only specific fonts. You can also unembed the portions of fonts that are not in use in a document.
  1. Select Fonts.

  2. Select one of the following options:

    Unembed all fonts
    Unembeds all embedded fonts

    Do not unembed any font
    Does not unembed any fonts

    Unembed some fonts
    Unembeds only the specified fonts. Follow these steps to specify the fonts that you want to unembed:
    • If necessary, select a different fonts directory from the Font source drop-down menu. This drop-down menu lists fonts directories specified in Home > Settings > Core System > Core Configurations.

    • Select one or more fonts from the Available Fonts list and click Add. These fonts are added to the Fonts to Unembed list.

    • If you want to unembed some fonts that don’t exist on the LiveCycle server, enter the names of those fonts in the Add fonts to unembed box. Click Add.

    If you want to unembed some fonts whose subsets are embedded in the document, prefix the font name with the + sign. For example, “+Helvetica”.

  3. If you want to embed only the in-use subsets of the embedded fonts, select Subset all embedded fonts.

    Note: If you’re using this option in combination with Unembed some fonts, fonts in the Add fonts to unembed list are still completely unembedded.
    Font subsetting is the technique of embedding only a portion of a font. A font subset contains only the characters used in your document.

Transparency

*New for LiveCycle ES4*

If your PDF document includes artwork that contains transparency, you can use the PDF Optimizer settings to flatten transparency and reduce file size.

If Acrobat 4.0 and later is selected as the Target PDF version, all transparent objects are flattened. For other Target PDF versions, transparency is supported and you can configure the transparency settings.

 Select Transparency to configure the transparency settings while optimizing PDF documents.
Transparency level
Specifies the amount of vector information that will be preserved. Higher settings preserve more vector objects, while lower settings rasterize more vector objects; intermediate settings preserve simple areas in vector form and rasterize complex ones. Select the lowest setting to rasterize all the artwork.
Note: The amount of rasterization that occurs depends on the complexity of the page and the types of overlapping objects.

Line Art and Text
Resolution to which all objects, including images, vector artwork, text, and gradients, are rasterized. The supported values are 1 pixels per inch (ppi) to 9600 ppi.
Line Art and Text resolution should generally be set to 600-1200 ppi to provide high-quality rasterization, especially on serif or small point sized type.

Gradient and Meshes
Resolution to which gradient and meshes are rasterized. The supported values are 1 ppi to 1200 ppi.
Gradient and mesh resolution should generally be set to 150-300 ppi, because the quality of the gradients, drop shadows, and feathers do not improve with higher resolutions, but printing time and file size increase.

Convert All Text to Outlines
Converts all type objects (point type, area type, and path type) to outlines and discards all type glyph information on pages containing transparency. This option ensures that the width of text stays consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option will cause small fonts to appear slightly thicker when viewed in Acrobat or printed on low-resolution desktop printers. It doesn’t affect the quality of the type printed on high-resolution printers or imagesetters.

Convert All Strokes to Outlines
Converts all strokes to simple filled paths on pages containing transparency. This option ensures that the width of strokes stays consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option causes thin strokes to appear slightly thicker and may degrade flattening performance.

Clip Complex Regions
Ensures that the boundaries between vector artwork and rasterized artwork fall along object paths. This option reduces stitching artifacts that result when part of an object is rasterized while another part of the object remains in vector form. However, selecting this option may result in paths that are too complex for the printer to handle.
Note: Some print drivers process raster and vector art differently, sometimes resulting in color stitching. You may be able to minimize stitching problems by disabling some print-driver specific color-management settings. These settings vary with each printer, so see the documentation that came with your printer for details.

Preserve Overprint
Blends the color of transparent artwork with the background color to create an overprint effect.

Images

 Select Images to specify compression and resampling options for color, grayscale, and monochrome images.

You may want to experiment with these options to find an appropriate balance between file size and image quality.

The resolution setting for color and grayscale images should be 1.5 to 2 times the line screen ruling at which the file will be printed. The resolution for monochrome images should be the same as the output device, but be aware that saving a monochrome image at a resolution higher than 1500 dpi increases the file size without noticeably improving image quality. Images that will be magnified, such as maps, may require higher resolutions.

Note: Resampling monochrome images can have unexpected viewing results, such as no image display. If this happens, turn off resampling and convert the file again. This problem is most likely to occur with subsampling, and least likely with bicubic downsampling.

The following table shows common types of printers and their resolution measured in dpi, their default screen ruling measured in lines per inch (lpi), and a resampling resolution for images measured in pixels per inch (ppi). For example, if you were printing to a 600-dpi laser printer, you would enter 170 for the resolution at which to resample images.

Printer resolution

Default line screen

Image resolution

300 dpi (laser printer)

60 lpi

120 ppi

600 dpi (laser printer)

85 lpi

170 ppi

1200 dpi (imagesetter)

120 lpi

240 ppi

2400 dpi (imagesetter)

150 lpi

300 ppi

Discard Objects

 Select Discard Objects to specify objects to remove from the PDF and to optimize curved lines in CAD drawings.
Discard All Form Submission, Import And Reset Actions:
Disables all actions that are related to submitting or importing form data, and resets form fields. This option retains form objects that actions are linked to.

Discard All JavaScript Actions:
Removes from the PDF any actions that use JavaScript.

Discard Embedded Page Thumbnails:
Removes embedded page thumbnails. This option is useful for large documents, which can take a long time to draw page thumbnails after you click the Pages button.

Convert Smooth Lines To Curves:
Reduces the number of control points used to build curves in CAD drawings, which results in smaller PDF files and faster onscreen rendering.

Discard Embedded Print Settings:
Removes embedded print settings, such as page scaling and duplex mode, from the document.

Discard Bookmarks:
Removes all bookmarks from the document.

Flatten Form Fields:
Makes form fields unusable with no change to their appearance. Form data is merged with the page to become page content.

Discard All Alternate Images:
Removes all versions of an image except the version that is destined for onscreen viewing. Some PDFs include multiple versions of the same image for different purposes, such as low-resolution onscreen viewing and high-resolution printing.

Discard Document Tags:
Removes tags from the document, which also removes the accessibility and reflow capabilities for the text.

Detect And Merge Image Fragments:
Looks for images or masks that are fragmented into thin slices and tries to merge the slices into a single image or mask.

Discard Embedded Search Index:
Removes embedded search indexes, which reduces file size.

Discard User Data

 Select Discard User Data to remove any personal information that you do not want to distribute or share with other users.
Discard All Comments, Forms And Multimedia:
Removes all comments, forms, form fields, and multimedia from the PDF.

Discard All Object Data:
Removes all objects from the PDF.

Discard External Cross References:
Removes links to other documents. Links that jump to other locations within the PDF are not removed.

Discard Hidden Layer Content And Flatten Visible Layers:
Decreases file size. The optimized document looks like the original PDF but does not contain layer information.

Discard Document Information And Metadata:
Removes information in the document information dictionary and all metadata streams. (Use the Save As command to restore metadata streams to a copy of the PDF.)

Discard File Attachments:
Removes all file attachments, including attachments added to the PDF as comments. (PDF Optimizer does not optimize attached files.)

Discard Private Data Of Other Applications:
Strips information from a PDF document that is useful only to the application that created the document. This setting does not affect the functionality of the PDF, but it does decrease the file size.

Clean Up

 Select Clean Up to remove unnecessary items from the document.

These items include elements that are obsolete or unnecessary for your intended use of the document. Removing certain elements can seriously affect the functionality of the PDF. By default, only elements that do not affect functionality are selected. If you are unsure of the implications of removing other options, use the default selections.

Compression
Select one of the following Flate compression options from the drop-down menu:
  • Compress entire file

  • Compress document structure

  • Remove compression

  • Leave compression untouched

Use Flate To Encode Streams That Are Not Encoded:
Applies Flate compression to all streams that are not encoded.

Discard Invalid Bookmarks:
Removes bookmarks that point to pages in the document that are deleted.

Discard Unreferenced Named Destinations:
Removes named destinations that are not being referenced internally from within the PDF document. This option does not check for links from other PDF files or websites.

Optimize The PDF For Fast Web View:
Restructures a PDF document for page-at-a-time downloading (byte-serving) from web servers.

In Streams That Use LZW Encoding, Use Flate Instead:
Applies Flate compression to all content streams and images that use LZW encoding.

Discard Invalid Links:
Removes links that jump to invalid destinations.

Optimize Page Content:
Converts all end-of-line characters to space characters, which improves Flate compression.

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