CorelDRAW Publish to PDF increased file size – embedd color profiles

I got a question the other day from a Swedish company and fellow users of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6. Question was about the PDF´s they created via Publish to PDF and how they increased in file size. (They used Customized PDF icon on the CorelDRAW property bar). With CorelDRAW X4 the PDF´s file size was 88 kb or in that region. But the same file made with CorelDRAW X6 was suddenly 2,62 MB.

Now, COREL remade the entire Colour Management engine, entirely, from the ground up, with the birth of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5. Forget everything you ever new up until X4 and see the light with X5 and X6 and onwards.

PDF SETTINGS DIALOG
The whole thing with Color management in CorelDRAW X5 & X6 and Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5 and X6 is not only about colour profiles, its also affected small and big things. For example a wonderful Color Proofing Docker and Color Styles and what have you. And it also allowed for embedding color profiles in the PDF settings dialog, see Color Tab.

This means that for you who do not need a embedded colour profile to your PDF files, you simply un-tick the feature for embedding color profiles, and you will reduce the PDF file size with MB´s. And they might at times even be smaller in file size in X6 than they were in X4. Remember the file size of the embedded color profiles very much depends on how many items of colour you have in the document. For example if you,  like in my PDF dialog image sample below, only have a tiny rectangle with blue and a few ”b” written on a line and color it, you just wind up with this small embedded color profile. Would you on the other hand have images and other things packed with color, the color profile will increase as well. If you as said un-tick, do not select embedd color profile, that will decrease the file size with the same amount as your color items have.

This also brings up the subject on using the ”Objects” tab > Bitmap compression > Compression type and JPEG Quality slider, in the same PDF dialog. You may use the JPEG Quality slider and move the slider form default value of ”10” to let say ”192” in making the file size smaller, but if you instead think Embedding color profiles, you will save more on the file size than the compression of JPEG quality.

Stefan Lindblad
Illustrator, graphic designer and artist
During 2012 appointed by Corel a CorelDRAW Master
www.canvas.nu