"Blog This!"

Today I wrote this quick little tutorial on how to properly export a PDF that you can use on the web or in an e-mail.  It seems a lot of people have a hard time with this trying to send out a two page PDF that is 10mb+, it just doesn't work.  Here are three easy steps to getting the correct settings for your PDF.  Make sure to save them as a preset so you don't have to do this everytime.

I start with the preset "Illustrator Default"

In the "General" section un-check "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" (assuming that you don't want users editing your documents).  Go ahead and check the "Optimize for Fast Web View" check-box.

This is the important step, where the optimizing is really done.  Images increase the document more than any other element and there is no sense in embedding overly huge images for no good reason.  Using these settings will automatically compress your images in the PDF leaving the originals intact.

After you have all of your settings entered in make sure you click the "Save Preset" button on the bottom right corner of the dialog.  Name it something easy to remember like "PDF Email" or something.  Then next time you need to save a PDF and send it off you can simply choose your preset from the drop down and save.