Re: Optimize files in FM6

[Chris Despopoulos <cud@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This is what I believe Optimize PDF Size is all about.  These are my 
conceptions - if they are misconceptions, feel free to set me straight.

In Maker 5.x, saving as PDF generated Named Destinations for all 
paragraphs, or any other document objects that could be the target of 
any hypertext-like action.  (There was a workaround via changing a PS 
header  file...  I will not get into that because I forgot most 
everything about it.  You can learn more through the Adobe support 
database.)  This caused problems because the PDF files could be huge, 
and you could actually exceed the number of named destinations allowed 
in a PDF file.

This problem was referred to as "PDF Bloat".

Maker 6 includes a fix to PDF Bloat.  Basically, Maker 6 now adds a data 
flag to every document object - Named Destination, T/F?  You can see it 
in the MIF, and the FDK gives you access to this flag so you can query 
it and also set it.  The idea is, you can save lots of space if you only 
mark the objects that actually *are* targets for hyperty-like activity.  
FrameMaker knows when such an object should be marked whenever you do 
the action...  When you make an xref FrameMaker sest it, when you make a 
Hypertext Link Maker sets it, etc.

OPTIONALLY, you can tell Maker to set the flag for every object.  This 
is because it is possible that Maker can get it wrong, and miss a few 
named destinations you might need.  I'm not sure why, or which ones, but 
for some reason the Maker developers thought this was a necessary 
safeguard.

What about legacy docs?  You have a 5.5 doc with xrefs in it - what 
happens.  In fact, Maker 6 has no way to know which need to be named 
dests and which don't.  I believe the default, when opening a 5.x doc in 
6.0 is to set them all as named destinations.  In other words, you still 
have PDF Bloat in these particular documents.

That's why Maker has the Optimize PDF Size command.  This is an FDK 
client that scans your document and selectively sets the flag.  It 
exists for the sake of legacy documents.  I have set it succesfully - I 
had a project with roughly 30 Meg in Maker.  In Maker 5.5, the PDF (when 
I finally got it) was 16 Meg.  It seemed to freeze my 233 MHz machine, 
and took about 30 minutes on my 850 MHz machine.  The same project in 
Optimized 6.0 produces 4.2 Meg of PDF, in about 10 minutes on my faster 
machine.

If you chose to make all objects into named destinations for your legacy 
documents, you gain nothing, as far as I can tell.  I would say, this is 
not what you want to do.

I believe you cannot use one command to optimize all files in a book...  
I believe it is not one of the book-wide commands.  When I looked into 
it, I came away convinced that it only works on a single document.  To 
address that, I added Optimize PDF Size to a batch utility that I have 
made.  I use it for the above mentioned project...  They send me 
updates, and they do them in Maker 5.x, so I have to optimize the 
filesize often.  Find my tools on

http://www.telecable.es/personales/cud/

Look for Free Downloads > DoBatch.

One issue...  You have to be careful about your templates.  Maker 6 
handles numbering differently than earlier versions, and if your 
templates use tricky numbering schemes that can be a problem.  But in 
the long run, I believe it's worth it.

I hope this helps...        cud


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