I just upgraded to CS4 from an old, old version and noticed you can work from a Photoshop PDF file. I actually output many of my files to PDF for clients to review so it’s kinda convenient not to have to convert it. Is there a reason why I shouldn’t just do all my work within this format? I’m mostly creating web and mobile comps which aren’t so graphically intensive. Thanks and excuse me in advance for my ignorance–still learning about CS4!
For one thing when You maintain Photoshop Editability in the pdf the file-size increases and You might not want to pass Your complete layered file on to Your customers.
That’s a good point. I’ll have to check out the file size difference. I actually combine the pdfs into one pdf so I wonder if that reduces the file size any?
Thanks. Also wanted to post an update that combining the Photoshop PDF’s into one pdf doesn’t reduce the file size. For example, a pdf with 5 Photoshop PDF files is 12.9 MB while a pdf with those same files converted to gifs is 812 KB.
Hi Jim, would you explain the purpose of this file format in a nutshell? In the end I just need to be able to display multiple comps in one pdf file. I thought saving as Photoshop PDF would save me time, but apparently that’s at the cost of a large file size.
Think of the PDF as a carrier bag into which you stuff images.
Fill it with high resolution images for quality output and you will get larger files; or fill it with low-rez JPEGs for instant on-screen viewing and small files.
Heavy carrier bag or a light one: your choice depending on your current needs.
Yeah, those were my thoughts about it, too, but I’m wondering about Jim’s comments. Is there a definitive place I can go to find the pros and cons of this format?
There are no significant cons to a format that allows you to either use low- or high-res and low- or high-bit images. The only possible con is if the recipient does not have software to read PDF files.
If you want to produce PDF files that are similar in size to the GIF files, you will need to convert your images to be more GIF-like prior to saving as PDF. This means scaling to the final output size and switching your document from ‘RGB’ mode to ‘Index’ color prior to saving. Your PDF files were probably huge because you were using millions of colors in them (rgb mode).
Of course, this dumbing down to a lesser color mode should be done on a copy; not your original file.
Thanks Jim. You mentioned that I find out what I’d lose at the price of a smaller file. Besides the visual quality (which is fine for my purposes), what else do you lose?
Besides the visual quality (which is fine for my purposes), what else do you lose?
I suggest that you run a test for yourself. Take a detailed, high-quality art file with some graphics, type, logos, and photos. Create a series of PDFs of it, ranging from the highest press quality (or PDF/X-1a) to the smallest file size, and just compare them on-screen via Adobe Reader or Acrobat.
Hey Neil, that’s definitely a great suggestion and I tried to do this about halfway through the thread when I posted
Also wanted to post an update that combining the Photoshop PDF’s into one pdf doesn’t reduce the file size. For example, a pdf with 5 Photoshop PDF files is 12.9 MB while a pdf with those same files converted to gifs is 812 KB.
I certainly didn’t run the full spectrum of tests, but I wanted to test cristoph’s assertion that the file size would increase by simply saving as Photoshop PDF. I exported the images into a compressed file format and created a combined PDF using Acrobat. I asked Jim to explain more because he said I was "comparing apples to oranges" and that I should study/learn more about the formats, but then he mentioned that
Visual quality is all there is to lose.
which seemed to settle things for me. I was just wondering if there was something beyond the visual quality. Thanks.
v6, I had interpreted the original question »Is there a reason why I shouldn’t just do all my work within this format?« to mean that You considered abandoning the psd- or tif-format completely and working exclusively in pdf-files, keeping the layered files as such by choosing »Preserve Photoshop-Editability«. Pdfs for presentation- and print-purposes are of course indispensable, but for the creation-, editing- and layout-process I would advise to work in psd (or tif) and »Save As« flattened pdf-copies as the occasion necessitates.
….and to add to Christoph’s explanation of his answer…
My first post was only commenting on the post that immediately preceded it. I never addressed the original question by recommending any particular file format. I was just comparing GIF and PDF.
I personally would stick with PSD as the working format and save out another format to pass off for review by clients.
If you are looking for convenience of conversion for a client copy, check out the various automation functions of Photoshop. You might make it a simple one-click issue to make a duplicate file in another format.
