Gigantic Slow PDFs

BLassa · 2025-02-21T19:31:49+00:00

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Does anyone have any tips to make gigantic PDF's that have a lot of details, load faster? I have a takeoff I am doing on a 133MB stack of just architectural prints, and it is loading way too slow on some pages, because of the detail. I already have hardware rendering on and the typical BB settings enabled to make it faster. Would compressing the file size make it work better? Anyone have any tips to help out? I have 5 buildings like this.

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Rick Gallant

I have the same issue myself. I tried compressing the file but the process took a long time to the point I had to cancel it.

BLassa

That's kind of where I am at now. Been letting it compress for over an hour. Its been using almost 90% of my system memory of 16GB. Might not be the solution after all.

BLassa

My issue is this. I have multiple pages, that have all of these tiny lines, repeated sometimes 30-40 times. The attached picture is an example super zoomed in. This snip happens 150 times on one page. The long dimension on that snip is only 1/4. This information doesn't do anything for me, so I want to ignore or delete it, to speed up the rest of the sheet. Any Ideas, anyone?

Brandon Costlow

Maybe you could use the Reduce File Size command under Documents. You can use presets or customize to eliminate certain types of content from the document. I've used it before with varying levels of effectiveness.

BLassa

I tried reducing file size. After running it for over 3 hours, and maxing out the 16GB of ram on my pc, I had to cancel it, so I could do other work. I think I am going to extract the offending pages and put them into their own stack of prints.

Luke Shiras

Would these happen to be Civil or Landscape drawings? They are notorious for being huge files. Check to see if they have layers you can delete.

Jes Stafford

Along the lines of what @Luke Shiras said, There are some culprits that can be weeded out. Also, Try the Reduce File Size command with various settings as @bcostlow recommends to weed out the data hogs.

I know it is almost sacrilege, and architects usually frown upon the practice, but break the set out for the sheets you want to takeoff as a last resort. Sounds like they have some high BIM LOD stuff weighing you down.

When in doubt, hit disable lineweights.

BLassa

Disabling line weights didn't help much. There are no layers to get rid of unfortunately, as well. These are architectural drawings, where they clearly overlaid mechanical unit drawings on the plans, in their full glory, 150 times, instead of just showing the units as rectangles.

Jes Stafford

So, it seems clear to me that the PDF originated from a team member lacking a bit of regard for its usefulness in your endeavors. They probably need it in that state for a record but maybe they can exercise some data hygiene and re-publish a more efficient and useful PDF for you? After trying everything that you have tried to make it useable, perhaps it is time to reach out to them and ask for another document. Possible?

Brandon Costlow

I'm with Jess. You've done your due diligence, but they gave you something essentially unworkable. It would probably be much easier for them to extend an olive branch at this point, than for you to continue struggling with the massive set.

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