InDesignCS2 file is too big

[oldbunyip]

Any idea why a completely empty (no text, no graphic) InDCS2 file (one page only) is 720 KB in size? And how to make it smaller? Every now and then my editor seeks native InDesign file to do some text changes, so I'd like to keep it as small as possible (I need to email it to him).

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[AdobeAce]

Hi oldbunyip,

Welcome to the Layers Forum.

InDesign CS2 has so many features and does so much I guess you could say that it takes a bit of file size even to remember that it's doing none of these complex things. It's kind of like having plenty of nothing. Just kidding!

Nowadays, 720k is miniscule. If your editor's computer can't handle good size ID files, it's time to get a new one.

But then again, why does your editor need to go anywhere near your layouts?

Tell him or her to learn how to use Notes in a low-res Acrobat (very small file size). Probably one of the best ways for writers and artists to work with each other without getting in each other's way.

Or even better, a lot of publications are getting into InCopy CS2. An editing and word processing program that's specifically made to be used with InDesign CS2. It allows editors and artists to work on Stories in the layout file at the same time off of a server -- really quite amazing. The best thing about it is that an editor can easily do their job without messing up your work. Take a look at it on Adobe's Website -- http://store.adobe.com/products/incopy/overview.html

Hope this helps!

Ace

[Lottmedia]

One trick I saw somewhere (I think it was Scott K) was to re-save the file over itself, Save As - Same file name - Overwrite. A lot of times it purges some of the chaff. I know on big files it makes a difference, with something as small as you seem to be talking about I'm not sure but give it a try.

PS, when you open the file you may need to change one small thing to get the Save As option, just toggel a layer off and back on will do.

J-Rod

[G4pj]

There are some options to reduce file size:
1. Remove all unused color swatches, if your document is going to be black or black plus one spot color, you don't need the additional swatches.
2. Remove unused character/paragraph styles, they too can clutter a file and increase file size.
3. Special effects, drop shadows, blending modes, gradients, and transparency are some features that can add to a file size. If you need these features, consider creation in Illustrator, and link the files. That means the Illustrator file might be large, but the InDesign file will be smaller.
4. Keep fonts to a minimum. Font usage was hammered back before the days of computer, two different font styles can be used, a third if it's a variation of one of the first two. Use more than three, and a lot of thought needs to be put forth to make them work together. There are times for rule breaking, I'm not a font Nazi (Unless you've used thirty fonts in an eight page document, and it crashes my imagesetter). But for every font you use, the application stores data about the usage, the more fonts you use, the more font data gets stored.

As far as file size, 720k isn't bad for one page. Are your documents one page, or do you create multi-page documents?

You mentioned email, if there's a concern with emailing a file that is 720k, that could mean that someone is on dial-up, either by choice, or because of country living. Try zipping the file, XP now has a compression utility built into the OS, and so does OSX. Another option would be to export to a pdf file, and mail in a CD with the packaged InDesign file and components. Simple pdf files compress down to less than 100k. One or two graphics can result in a pdf file that's about 400k or less. Graphic and feature intensive pdf files can be larger.

[The Repro Kid]

Hi oldbunyip,

...Nowadays, 720k is miniscule. If your editor's computer can't handle good size ID files, it's time to get a new one....

Jeeze Ace, I hope you're talking about getting a new editing computer not a new editor. Man you're tough!

:D

On a more serious note, G4jp may be right about Scottie's solution.

I used the finder to duplicate a postcard size file with images (1.7m), deleted all and saved, it was still 1.6m. But when I opened the original postcard file, deleted all and did a save-as it was only 192k.

(Man, I love siting at home and testing all this bullsh#t. I wonder if I could get a job as bullsh#t tester. Anyone out there need to hire a telecommuting bullsh#t tester?)

[AdobeAce]

Hi Repro,

I meant the computer!

But an editor who likes to mess with the actual layout should probably be replaced as well. :eek: There's enough non-artists screwing up layouts as it is.

Ace

:D

[Len Zigante]

One trick I saw somewhere (I think it was Scott K) was to re-save the file over itself, Save As - Same file name - Overwrite. A lot of times it purges some of the chaff. I know on big files it makes a difference, with something as small as you seem to be talking about I'm not sure but give it a try.

PS, when you open the file you may need to change one small thing to get the Save As option, just toggel a layer off and back on will do.

J-Rod

Happy new year everyone & hope u all had a good holiday season.

What I believe you are all referring to is the "quick save" that Quark & several other applications started employing many-a-year ago. "Save As" requires your computer to spend considerable amounts of time computing what the new "final result" of the layout is while a "Save" more or less appends the instruction set of how to get to the current layout based on the previous save state. The more "saves" you do without doing a "Save As", the longer this instruction set gets & the file continues to increase in size (the instructions are more or less tacked on to the end of the existing file).

Thus, the advantage of doing a "Save" is that it takes little time to append the instruction set onto the end of the existing file allowing the operator to work uninterrupted (no waiting several minute for the save process to finish). The disadvantage is the continually growing file size (even for your now empty file).

As a rule, it is always a good idea to do a "Save As" every once in a while to keep the file as compact as possible.

Hope this proves useful.
Len :)