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Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

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    Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

    Hi. I have about 20 to 30 different reports that I save each one using the a5w_report_saveAs() function. The file size of each report is from 6kb to 56kb with the exception of one report that contains 60 or more jpg photos and has a file size of about 13mb. Once all reports are generated/saved, I then combine them into one huge report using the pdf_append_list() function.

    My question is how do I compress a pdf file in A5? Right now the combined file is about 13 MB. When I manually compressed/optimized it inside Adobe Acrobat, I was able to Save it As an optimized pdf resulting to a smaller (4mb) file size. Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

    Thanks.
    Hector

    #2
    Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

    Take a look at imagemagick
    Frank

    Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

      Thanks Frank. I googled imagemagick and found a5_runimagemagiccommand() function. I'm thinking this is the function you are trying to suggest when you say imagemagick, right? I used this in my xbasic function to resize each jpg file (62 files) and it worked. I now have 2.7mb file size as opposed to 13mb and picture quality still looks good. Thanks.
      -Hector

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

        yep!
        Frank

        Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

          I thought I was done with this issue but unfortunately the a5_runimagemagiccommand() function in my code does not work for all jpg files.

          pResult = a5_runimagemagiccommand(vFPath+vFName, vSmallPhotoPath+vFName,"-resize x550")

          It works on some jpg pictures but not on all. I am getting the cannot execute command on the pResult property. I thought of maybe the original picture size was smaller than height 550 but it wasn't. The source and destination path+file are valid. I also thought maybe because of special characters in the path+file value but even those that don't have special characters don't work on some of them.

          Does anyone had similar issue? Any idea why sometimes it does not work and sometimes does? Below is my UDF code.

          FUNCTION ResizePhoto AS C (vFPath as C, vFName as C)
          'Being used by reporting expression: vScaledPhoto = ResizePhoto(session.vPhotoPath,Filename)
          'debug(1)
          dim vSmallPhotoPath as C = session.vFoldername + "\\"
          if file.exists(vFPath+vFName) then
          if a5_getimagesize(vFPath+vFName).heightPixels > 550
          '550px height is about 5.729 inches. Width is auto-adjust to proportion.
          pResult = a5_runimagemagiccommand(vFPath+vFName, vSmallPhotoPath+vFName,"-resize x550")
          else
          'do not resize and just copy the file
          File.Copy(vFPath+vFName, vSmallPhotoPath+vFName)
          end if
          ResizePhoto = vSmallPhotoPath+vFName
          end if
          END FUNCTION

          Thanks.
          Hector
          Last edited by hecsan; 08-22-2013, 11:37 PM.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

            Have you tried in command line outside of Alpha ? I suspect the issue could be with Imagemagick
            Frank

            Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

              There is an undocumented function recently added to the latest Alpha Anywhere build to optimize a PDF
              Code:
              L pdf_optimize(C file [,C Result_File ])
              
              Description: Optimize a PDF document to make it smaller. If Result_file is null, then the result is stored to the same file as the input file.
              The function will return True if the optimized file is created. The optimize can reduce the size of some PDF files by as much as 50%, but doesn't change the compression scheme, and may not have much effect on images. Depending on how the PDF was built, it may already be optimized and the operation won't change the size.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

                Thanks for the info, Jerry.

                Frank, I followed what you suggested so I installed ImageMagick in my pc, run in command prompt and it worked fine. I then use A5 interactive window and manually run my udf code, it also worked fine. I did my debug() again and played around with the code until I thought of trimming the variables with alltrim(), and it worked. For whatever reason, Report A is printing images but Report B is not where both reports are using the same RS_Photos report and so it is using the same calculated values on the report: vScaledPhoto = ResizePhoto(session.vPhotoPath,Filename)... and yes, both passing parameter values do not have leading or trailing spaces.

                I looked at the image file sizes, paths, special characters, etc. Well, between the two reports that I tested, the only difference would be the path of one is longer than the other because company name is part of the path; one company name is about 10 char longer. Didn't bother checking the path of and testing other companies since I didn't think this was the culprit. It's working now.

                Thanks.
                Hector

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Is it possible to compress/optimize a PDF file in A5?

                  Hector,

                  Glad it worked out; always be on the lookout for spaces and/or special characters in path/filenames as well.
                  Frank

                  Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand

                  Comment

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