How to reduce file sizes for .doc, .pdf, .txt?

Aniej · Aug 7, 2007

I already know about reducing file size through print pdf, but from my experience this has not done too much to actually reduce the size. I was wondering if there is any other way to do this that is similarly easy and free?

More importantly, how about the ability to reduce a word document or text edit without converting the file into a pdf? I have massive word files and would really like to reduce the size they take up, but really do not want to lose the ability work in the document.

I did a search and am having trouble coming up with anything.

OutThere · Aug 7, 2007

Zipping the files (Right click -> Create Archive) will save a lot of space, but you'll have to unzip them to work on them. Otherwise, you can't do a whole lot.

balamw · Aug 7, 2007

Aniej said:
More importantly, how about the ability to reduce a word document or text edit without converting the file into a pdf? I have massive word files and would really like to reduce the size they take up, but really do not want to lose the ability work in the document.

Ask yourself. Why are they massive? Is it just a sheer huge amount of text or is it a bunch of embedded spreadsheets, etc... Copy the text to TextEdit/Notepad and see how much there really is.

Note that one easy way to keep files small is by embedding only the output of spreadsheets. (e.g. charts or tables). Very often I find Word/PPT files that have 10 copies of the same spreadheet embedded, each with slight differences of course.

B

Aniej · Aug 8, 2007

balamw said:
Ask yourself. Why are they massive? Is it just a sheer huge amount of text or is it a bunch of embedded spreadsheets, etc... Copy the text to TextEdit/Notepad and see how much there really is.

Note that one easy way to keep files small is by embedding only the output of spreadsheets. (e.g. charts or tables). Very often I find Word/PPT files that have 10 copies of the same spreadheet embedded, each with slight differences of course.
B

Hey B, sorry to have had you go through all that and give such a detailed explanation, but the answer is simply I write a heck of a lot. It is all text.

However I do have additional question and one follow-up question: can I zip an actual folder that has multiple files in it that are different formats, i.e., .doc and .pdf? I assume the answer is yes. And, if I am correct (alert the media there is a second noteworthy event that happened in addition to the iMac) OS X zips and unzips so there is no additional application necessary? The only question I have is whether this is pretty much the standard weapon of choice or there is a better system out there that people prefer over the pre-installed capability?

What is "outputing" a spreadsheet, and if if I were to do so am I then later able to work inside that spreadsheet independent of the original data? I am guessing no since it sounds like this is more of a photocopy for lack of a better description.

balamw · Aug 8, 2007

You must write a heck of a lot to be concened about the size of your word files, A typical page of text is 2KB and even Word can't be that inefficient so assume a 100 page manuscript would still only be 2MB, so you'd need ~500 100 page documents to even make up a single GB.

[Note here that the new XML formats for documents will in general be less efficient storage wise than their binary versions, so stay away from them unless you're willing to pay the price]

Aniej said:
What is "outputing" a spreadsheet, and if if I were to do so am I then later able to work inside that spreadsheet independent of the original data? I am guessing no since it sounds like this is more of a photocopy for lack of a better description.

Not going to matter if all you've got is text, but the point is simple. When you copy a table or chart from Excel into Word using the default methods, it embeds the entire spreadsheet into the Word file, so when you have a large spreadsheet, the Word file becomes large. If you keep the spreadsheet intact and copy the charts as images (Paste Special as PNG/GIF/...) and do the same with tables (Paste Special as RTF or HTML)

Aniej · Aug 8, 2007

Thanks!

pyat77 · Jan 13, 2011

So, why are my microsoft office for mac files always so large, especially powerpoints, if I created an identical powerpoint on a PC it would be a far smaller file-size? I've noticed this many times. My pretty large word document with just a few pictures is 8.3 megabytes.

I just copied it to notepad and its 37 kb? (without pictures)

simsaladimbamba · Jan 13, 2011

pyat77 said:
So, why are my microsoft office for mac files always so large, especially powerpoints, if I created an identical powerpoint on a PC it would be a far smaller file-size? I've noticed this many times. My pretty large word document with just a few pictures is 8.3 megabytes.

I just copied it to notepad and its 37 kb? (without pictures)

Because the pictures take up a lot of storage space. I remember in the old days (when I used Word prominently in the 90s), that Word would save the images in .bmp format and not in .jpeg format, thus the image would be not compressed and take up too much space.

pyat77 · Jan 13, 2011

Hmm... thats interesting, thank you.
But I found a function in word to reduce file size dramatically.

Tumbleweed666 · Jan 13, 2011

Aniej said:
the answer is simply I write a heck of a lot. It is all text.

If you wrote one THOUSAND average size books, I'd expect that to take up about 1Gb.

So either you are ludicrously low on disk space which will mean that you'll have other issues soon, and need to take more drastic action, like getting rid of lots of redundant files or getting a bigger disk (or an extra one) or you are worrying unnecessarily.

rfsingle · Jan 19, 2012

pyat77 said:
Hmm... thats interesting, thank you.
But I found a function in word to reduce file size dramatically.

What was that function? I am trying to save a document as a template. Images have already been reduced to 150dpi and the file size is still to big. Thanks

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