Google Docs Export to PDF are HUGE now?!
UPDATE: as of late March 2024, the file sizes have returned to a reasonable size 👍👍 The original blog entry describing the (now fixed) issue can be found below:
Recently when exporting Google Docs pages to a PDF my file sizes have increased from 2-3mb to 20+mb 🙁 It seems to be related to including photos in the Doc but there do not appear to be any solutions from Google. They made some server size change because the EXACT same files now export over 10x larger.
Currently, I am using https://www.ilovepdf.com/compress_pdf to compress the PDF output. It works but it adds a lot of steps to my workflow.
More posts about this below:
https://support.google.com/docs/thread/116857685?hl=en
This is an article about the large file sizes of Google Docs PDF exports. It discusses a recent change that caused PDFs to become much larger than usual. Users report that PDFs that were previously under 300kb are now several megabytes. One user tried recreating their document from scratch and the file size was still large.
Some suggested solutions include using Ctrl+P to print to PDF instead of downloading the file (which does NOT resolve the issue) and using a free online compressor (which DOES help but is a cumbersome workaround requiring uploading and downloading, not to mention it is a security risk!) Users are also encouraged to send feedback to the Google Docs team.
https://support.google.com/docs/thread/116857685?hl=en
The Problem:
- The user designs crochet patterns in Google Docs on an iPhone, then saves them as Word and PDF files.
- Recently, the saved PDF files have become unexpectedly large, even with minor changes like correcting typos and adding a few photos.
- The user didn’t make any conscious changes to settings or their iPhone.
Key Points
- Example: “Mona Mesh” and “Mona Mesh2” patterns demonstrate the issue. The difference between the files is minimal, but the PDF size for “Mona Mesh2” is ten times larger.
- Previous File Sizes: The user’s PDFs used to be a maximum of around 50MB.
Request: The user is seeking help to understand why the file sizes have increased and how to get them back to a normal size.
https://support.google.com/docs/thread/260057530
This is an article about Google Docs to PDF file size increase. It discusses users experiencing a sudden increase in file size when exporting Google Docs to PDF. The file size can increase from 3MB to 25MB or even 250MB. Users have tried various solutions including checking image compression settings and using different fonts, but the issue persists. Some users believe the issue is with Google’s recent update. Others have found workarounds such as using Adobe to shrink the file size. As of February 25, 2024, there is no official solution from Google.