Tips for Reducing Document Sizes
- Scanning Images:
- When working with images you wish to scan for delivery on the web, you should adjust the scanning resolution to 72 dpi. This is a setting in your scanner software and it is normally set to 300 dpi for print quality. Resolution of 72 dpi is ideal for web images, PowerPoint images and use in Adobe PDF documents.
- Creating PowerPoint files:
- If you develop PowerPoint presentations for your students to download via the internet you should be aware of their file sizes. Any file larger than 1 Megabyte (1,000 kilobytes) may be difficult or impossible for some students to download. We find many instructors requiring their students to download PowerPoint files that are much larger.
- One way to reduce these file sizes dramatically is to reduce the sizes of images you insert into your PowerPoint presentations. This must be done in another program such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Photo Editor. The images can be resized and saved in these programs, then inserted into your PowerPoint presentations.
- Word Documents:
- Most MS Word documents remain small in size unless you add many images into your document. MS Word documents with images that have been saved as Rich Text Format also tend to have large file sizes. If you find your documents are large in size you might think about converting them to Adobe PDF documents using Adobe Acrobat. PowerPoint files can also be converted to PDF for ease of download and printing.
- Adobe PDF Documents:
- Although PDF files are normally a wonderful way to make information accessible, their file sizes can get large. This is especially true if you scan files to PDF. To make sure you are getting the most from Acrobat, check the following settings:
- Under the Edit tab, select Preferences. From that menu, choose General...
From the left side of the Preferences box, select Options.
Make sure Allow Fast Web View and Save As Optimizes for Fast Web View are checked. Click OK.
- Simply using the File, Save As command to save a new copy of your PDF will optimize it for the best delivery mode on the web.
- Let us help:
- Some instructors have difficulty working with the tips above or just don't have time to optimize their material for space and download issues. That is where we come in. Our staff would be happy to work with you one-on-one to help you optimize the materials you need for your courses. Please contact our office at 2535 or tlt@murraystate.edu for more information.
