Another really important thing to take into consideration is whether your images are JPEG or PNG (or others). PNG images can be scaled down but can't be compressed. Any images which don't need alpha transparency should be converted to JPEGs first so that they can be both scaled and compressed when you export. I've seen this catch many people out.
But wait... InDesign in it's compression setting let's you choose which method to use. So if you choose JPEG (which is the default as well) you can throw in any image format ID can handle and the export will munch through them and spill out JPEG's in your PDF. Isn't this just some oldschool advice, back in the day when ID wasn't as good in handling different image formats? I recently was tasked with producing a HQ pdf at a low file size and it seemed to make no difference (size & quality wise) if I converted the images to JPG beforehand, or threw in some PNG. // and an addition: if your PDF/portfolio will be viewed solely on screen than PPI or DPI has no effect on the image quality whatsoever. The 72dpi is stuff from the 80's and only effects PRINTS anyways. a 1920x1080 image will appear on _ANY_ screen as 1920x1080, regardless what it's PPI/DPI setting is, _ONLY_ when it's printed the size will vary (the higher the DPI the smaller the image because more dots per inch)!
@@SamDoesDesign It would be so great to have a tutorial on exporting to PNG/JPG -- I use InDesign for web ads and social share images, and I have the hardest time figuring out how to export and have a good quality image that isnt too big. There aren't a lot of resources on this either. Help would be greatly appreciated!
Dear sir, thanks for the tutorial which is very good. I have a suggestion. 1. While saving the native .tiff images in photoshop, first try to flatten the layers where tranperacy is not intented. 2. Go for LZW compression in PS. 3. In indesign export section opt for pdfx1a-2001 which would further reduce file size with quality and color intact. Its just my opinion. Ramalingam.
Thank you so much for this!! I'm currently applying for jobs and completely blanked on how to make my portfolio smaller. Nice, easy-to-follow, tutorial 👍
To be upfront I have seen some videos about reducing PDF files but non of the videos that i have watched helped me in saving my portfolio with small file instead some ways made the file bigger. Thankfully your method saved me a lot of time that i was about to spend on searching Thanks in advance. My file was 100 MB 💔 With your way 5 MB 🤩🤩🤩
Thanks. Most critical thing to do. And I think you should properly monetize your videos. Because this video is going to be ....Most viewed video for your channel. 😊👍👍
Thank you so much for this tutorial I have learned so much! I'm not quite ready to finalize my portfolio yet but I was already wondering how on hearth I could send such a big file to art directors, this video solves that problem!!
You're spectacular at explaining. Please continue to do more Indesign videos! This was helpful. I would like to know how you would configure the settings for a file that is an Interactive PDF, with the same goals as you had here. So, high quality but small file size. Thank you so much!
I still opt for interactive pdf... it retains the RGB values for on screen viewing but you can still export images at high resolution (I usually keep max quality and drop the resolution to 144-200 ppi). Something to take into consideration is the source image (aka if your render is large, your pres is usually large too)
I must say a fantastic video!! I had a portfolio which was 40mb and was stressing, this is honestly such a great video! Helped so much thanks! It’s now 4.7mb
Hey thank you so much Sam! Couldn't have found this video at a better time, working on my portfolio to send out and last I checked it was at 50 mb and I'd have to embarrassingly send over a G Drive link :P But surely this should streamline things! Great informative content you have going on!
This is great thanks! What if my portfolio has a lot of vector linework (e.g. Architectural plans) that cannot be rasterized? They are the ones that always seem to keep my pdf size heavy!
Reason why companies put a limit on the file size is that pdf files with many pages and images can easy jump over 40/60/150 MB and it turns into a bit of a hassle trying to download or send or move around a hundred of these ginormous files.
Hey, thank you for an informative video. Is there a way to set a fixed quality for some images before exporting if their quality tend to be way off compared to others once exported?
Thank you for your videos! but I will need a bit of extra help as my document is not getting any smaller, I have tried everything and is not smaller than 9MB with horrible image quality 😭😭😭 I dont know what to do😥😥😥😥
Help please! I have a lot of vector images in my portfolio and I can't get it down to less than 24MB (I started at 50MB lol) with this method. Any tips? I already reduced the individual files that are in the InDesign file. However, it still won't work. Thanks in advance!
Hello Sam, İ would like to say DPI(dens Per Inch) And PPI(Pixel Per Inch) is a same thing. There is no need DPI and PPI if we are work in digital space. you cant measure ınchies in digital space. ındesign is a printing base app. so whats happening is when you 300dpı=300ppı 1 İnch square there are 300 pıxels if you say 150DPI=150ppı there will be 150pixel inside that square. (but its only matters if you are in real world) if you prepare digital portfolio DPI and PPI is means nothing (you should be worry about screen size) 6 meters tall poster are not 300 or 150DPI(PPI) they are only 15DPI - 20DPI
This was no help in my export. The file size could not get under 50MB. I had to export as a Jpg and then save out as a PDF in order to make this file size under 5MB.
Thank you so much Sam for this video! I do have a question tho. I followed the steps and made sure that my settings were the same as yours, but my export continues to have a cut on certain pages with white space at the left margin of the page, and I wanted to ask how I can avoid or correct my file to make sure that these pages are full bleed? The dimensions of my portfolio are 16.5" X 11.7
Great visual explanation thank you. I wonder if you realize that keeping your files on your desktop is using up a lot of your computer’s resources? Best to use finder with fav folders on the side and keep things off your desktop. Hope that’s helpful for someone. One question… I haven’t used InDesign for a while (cc) and I had made an illustration in illustrator, the file was cymk, I copied and pasted the graphic into InDesign and it converted it to rgb. Anyway idea why this would happen?
TIP**** if this didn't work. What I did was, export it as HQ JPEG images and used Adobe Acrobat to complile all those images as one PDF. Mine came from 12mb as LQ to 4.3MB.
![fellow fellow - PROUD feat. INK WARUNTORN [STRING QUARTET]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQrVkMPTdHE/mqdefault.jpg)
Another really important thing to take into consideration is whether your images are JPEG or PNG (or others). PNG images can be scaled down but can't be compressed. Any images which don't need alpha transparency should be converted to JPEGs first so that they can be both scaled and compressed when you export. I've seen this catch many people out.
That’s a great point! I don’t often work with PNGs so this slipped my mind
But wait... InDesign in it's compression setting let's you choose which method to use. So if you choose JPEG (which is the default as well) you can throw in any image format ID can handle and the export will munch through them and spill out JPEG's in your PDF.
Isn't this just some oldschool advice, back in the day when ID wasn't as good in handling different image formats?
I recently was tasked with producing a HQ pdf at a low file size and it seemed to make no difference (size & quality wise) if I converted the images to JPG beforehand, or threw in some PNG.
// and an addition: if your PDF/portfolio will be viewed solely on screen than PPI or DPI has no effect on the image quality whatsoever. The 72dpi is stuff from the 80's and only effects PRINTS anyways.
a 1920x1080 image will appear on _ANY_ screen as 1920x1080, regardless what it's PPI/DPI setting is, _ONLY_ when it's printed the size will vary (the higher the DPI the smaller the image because more dots per inch)!
When using PDF, can these also be compressed ?
I came here because of this PNG issue. Thank you
@@SamDoesDesign It would be so great to have a tutorial on exporting to PNG/JPG -- I use InDesign for web ads and social share images, and I have the hardest time figuring out how to export and have a good quality image that isnt too big. There aren't a lot of resources on this either. Help would be greatly appreciated!
I was going to sell my soul to reduce my file size...but now that I've seen this I don't have to! Thank you!
Dammit, I've already sold mine
😂😂😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
lapar_minded 😂😂
:D same
Sam, you simply gave me the solution to one of the biggest problems of my life ! Thank you so much brother, God bless you !
I never ever comment on youtube videos but thank you so much! This saved me
Dear sir, thanks for the tutorial which is very good. I have a suggestion. 1. While saving the native .tiff images in photoshop, first try to flatten the layers where tranperacy is not intented. 2. Go for LZW compression in PS. 3. In indesign export section opt for pdfx1a-2001 which would further reduce file size with quality and color intact. Its just my opinion. Ramalingam.
Thanks for the tips!
Such a great video with helpful tips. Thank you for explaining each individual aspect
I can’t explain how happy am since finding this video!!
I’m so glad I could help!
Thank you so much for this!! I'm currently applying for jobs and completely blanked on how to make my portfolio smaller. Nice, easy-to-follow, tutorial 👍
Thank you! Good luck with the job search!
Thank you so so so so so so so so much! You are literally such a hero for making this video. Life altering! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
That was soooo helpful! Thank you! I feel confident that my online portfolio will look good for my client!
Thank you, this was so helpful. It is often little things like this that can catch you out.
I'm so glad I could help!
Great tips Sam! I've always been frustrated by compromising on imagine quality to get a small file size. Thanx so much :)
You are so welcome!
Is it possible you could do a video on making a portfolio on InDesign software?
Great idea for an episode!
To be upfront I have seen some videos about reducing PDF files but non of the videos that i have watched helped me in saving my portfolio with small file instead some ways made the file bigger.
Thankfully your method saved me a lot of time that i was about to spend on searching Thanks in advance.
My file was 100 MB 💔
With your way 5 MB 🤩🤩🤩
Thanks. Most critical thing to do.
And I think you should properly monetize your videos. Because this video is going to be ....Most viewed video for your channel. 😊👍👍
I hope this video is helpful for everyone!
Thank you so much for this tutorial I have learned so much! I'm not quite ready to finalize my portfolio yet but I was already wondering how on hearth I could send such a big file to art directors, this video solves that problem!!
Glad it was helpful! Good luck!
This video is so helpful, and clear to understand. Thanks a lot!!!
Thank you! I’m so glad I could help
Hi Sam, what if I want to export an Interactive PDF (I have links on my portfolio) - what options do I have in this case?
You're spectacular at explaining. Please continue to do more Indesign videos! This was helpful. I would like to know how you would configure the settings for a file that is an Interactive PDF, with the same goals as you had here. So, high quality but small file size. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! I can look into interactive PDFs but I do know that they’re usually larger than PDFs for print
OMG Thank you so much! It worked excellently *is relieved for Grad application portfolios*
Hache R team... got it! lol Thanks for the video!
This is so helpful for my architecture portfolio! thankss
I’m so glad I could help!
This was really helpful... Thanks!
Great video. You've saved me hours of agony. Thank you.
I still opt for interactive pdf... it retains the RGB values for on screen viewing but you can still export images at high resolution (I usually keep max quality and drop the resolution to 144-200 ppi). Something to take into consideration is the source image (aka if your render is large, your pres is usually large too)
Great point! Thanks for sharing
This helped me so much, thanks Sam!
Thank you for that it helped just have to tweak some settings
I must say a fantastic video!! I had a portfolio which was 40mb and was stressing, this is honestly such a great video! Helped so much thanks! It’s now 4.7mb
Thank you
Thank you very much! It was very helpful.
Hey thank you so much Sam! Couldn't have found this video at a better time, working on my portfolio to send out and last I checked it was at 50 mb and I'd have to embarrassingly send over a G Drive link :P But surely this should streamline things! Great informative content you have going on!
Than ly ou so much man.
This is exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you so much!!! You're save my life.
You just saved my life!😭 thank you so much!!
I’m glad I could help!
SAMEEEEE 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 THANKS A LOT!
Thanks so much for this, really helped with a job application I just put in :) !!
Loved this video! Thank you so much for the help x
This was super helpful thank you!
Hi Sam! Thank you!
What about when you vectorial PDFs inside Indesign instead of jpgs? Should these be converted to jpg first?
I’d love to know the answer to this too.
Yesss this is so useful! I’m definitely going to use these tips to keep my portfolio email-able 💌
I’m so glad I could help!
tHANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! THIS WAS VERY HELPFUL
Thank you so much for this video!!!!
Thanks for this it has helped
Thanks! This was super helpful.
Excellent video, great tutorial! Well done!!
This is great thanks! What if my portfolio has a lot of vector linework (e.g. Architectural plans) that cannot be rasterized? They are the ones that always seem to keep my pdf size heavy!
SAME PROBLEM FUCK
very helpful and pedagogical! thanx!
Thank you, you're awesome!
gracias
You are so helpful! Thank you so much
This is excellent thank you so much
Reason why companies put a limit on the file size is that pdf files with many pages and images can easy jump over 40/60/150 MB and it turns into a bit of a hassle trying to download or send or move around a hundred of these ginormous files.
Thank you! You really helped me!
Super helpful, thank you!
Super useful! Thanks Sam. 🍻
Thanks bro, you are the best!!!😍
I did all the steps yet my file size differnce turned out only 2-3 mb. Any suggestions to compress it more?
Hey, thank you for an informative video. Is there a way to set a fixed quality for some images before exporting if their quality tend to be way off compared to others once exported?
thanks!
Thanks a lot for sharing! 😁
This is awesome! These are type of video i like watching
Thank you! I’m glad I could help
this was not helpfull at ALL, all my images look like shit if I zoom even the slightest bit
Thank you for your videos! but I will need a bit of extra help as my document is not getting any smaller, I have tried everything and is not smaller than 9MB with horrible image quality 😭😭😭 I dont know what to do😥😥😥😥
Help please! I have a lot of vector images in my portfolio and I can't get it down to less than 24MB (I started at 50MB lol) with this method. Any tips? I already reduced the individual files that are in the InDesign file. However, it still won't work. Thanks in advance!
Life Saver 🙏 thank you
thanks
Helpful tutorial thanks🤟🏽
Thank you sooooo much Sam :)
great, thank you! very clear
Hello Sam, İ would like to say DPI(dens Per Inch) And PPI(Pixel Per Inch) is a same thing. There is no need DPI and PPI if we are work in digital space. you cant measure ınchies in digital space.
ındesign is a printing base app.
so whats happening is when you 300dpı=300ppı
1 İnch square there are 300 pıxels
if you say 150DPI=150ppı
there will be 150pixel inside that square.
(but its only matters if you are in real world)
if you prepare digital portfolio DPI and PPI is means nothing (you should be worry about screen size)
6 meters tall poster are not 300 or 150DPI(PPI)
they are only 15DPI - 20DPI
Thank you!
What should be the max number set on the pixels to compress? I went on to 100 yet I need to compress more.
Brilliant tips sam!
I’m so glad I could help!
Hey could you tell me what font have you used in the video :)
thank you sir
You’re welcome!
Thanks for the tutorial. Unfortunately for me it only reduced it from 20+mb to 17+mb..I need it to be 10mb
thankyou
thank you so much!
Brilliant! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad I could help!
This was no help in my export. The file size could not get under 50MB. I had to export as a Jpg and then save out as a PDF in order to make this file size under 5MB.
Why not do the folio at dimensions 1920 x 1080px?
Thank you so much Sam for this video! I do have a question tho. I followed the steps and made sure that my settings were the same as yours, but my export continues to have a cut on certain pages with white space at the left margin of the page, and I wanted to ask how I can avoid or correct my file to make sure that these pages are full bleed? The dimensions of my portfolio are 16.5" X 11.7
Hey Sam! At what resolution do you usually render at for a large image?? (like the size of the polaroid image) Thanks!
Great visual explanation thank you. I wonder if you realize that keeping your files on your desktop is using up a lot of your computer’s resources? Best to use finder with fav folders on the side and keep things off your desktop. Hope that’s helpful for someone.
One question… I haven’t used InDesign for a while (cc) and I had made an illustration in illustrator, the file was cymk, I copied and pasted the graphic into InDesign and it converted it to rgb. Anyway idea why this would happen?
Does it also work on Photoshop? I think InDesign may keep text output vectorial.
YOU SAVED MY LIFE! THANK YOU!
WORKS ON ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CC 2019
I’m so glad I could help!
need to know what font this is !!!!
You've literally saved my life thanks
I’m glad I could help!
TIP****
if this didn't work. What I did was, export it as HQ JPEG images and used Adobe Acrobat to complile all those images as one PDF. Mine came from 12mb as LQ to 4.3MB.
i try this method by my 50 page with logos and other stuff dosent go lower than 10 mg
Do you have videos or a video about the image format most suitable for uploading to one's websites by any chance..?
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! IT REALLY HELPFUL!!
I’m glad I could help!
Thanks man it was great video
Boston Beer Company's online application machine only allows files of less than 1024 MG. What am I supposed to do with that???
Thank you so much!
As Britain's only Corel Draw user I'm stuck trying to use PDF creation software. Anyone know of a good one?
which is the best tool to create portfolio? indesign or figma?
Great video 🙌🏻 Thanks man!
Glad I could help!
Thank you! This helped me a lot! 😀
I'm so glad I could help!
can you do this in photoshop?