My files are too large to upload – how to reduce file size.

PDF file sizes can vary dramatically depending on how you’ve created and saved your artwork.

If files are too large (80mb+) then they might not run through our software for the printer, or download at all! If this happens you’ll need to reduce the size of the PDF. This obviously takes time and can delay your printed items.

The upload size limit of the Peterkin website is 25mb per file. If your artwork PDF is greater than this, you can send us a link to a file sharing site via email (Dropbox / WeTransfer / GoogleDrive link or similar). Please be sure to reference your order number.

The biggest contributor to large files is the content! Large hi-resolution images, multi-layered illustrations and variable data artwork can have these issues.

Follow these simple steps to reduce your PDF file size:

1. Delete any hidden layers and flatten your artwork.
2. Remove all items from the pasteboard surrounding your artboard.
3. Reduce the size of any photos in your artwork to be about the physical size of the artboard at 300dpi. (Hi res photos are often huge to ensure quality if printed at very large scale).
4. Outline your typefaces (Type/Create Outlines) this also stops your fonts from corrupting and printing incorrectly.
5. When saving the PDF check ‘Compress Text and Line Art’. This can significantly reduce file size for non image-based content in your artwork.
6. Save your PDF as ‘Press Quality’ this reduces file size without losing quality.
7. If you created the file in Illustrator, make sure the box “Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities” is NOT ticked when you save it as pdf.
8. If the file is still too large, then consider splitting the file into a few smaller PDFs.