Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 2/27/2009

Question
Hi, I created an image in AI CS3, and when I save it as an AI file it is 2.7MB,
unfortunately I need to save it as an EPS version 8 file and it has to be under
5MB. Right now it is over 130MB! I tried simply shrinking the image in AI and
then re-saving as EPS 8, but that actually made it bigger. Please let me know
if there is a way of making it smaller that does not lose the quality and still
preserves the gradients as vector rather than bitmaps. I used some drop
shadows and I'm pretty sure that it the cause for the outrageous file size but
they are crucial to the design. Thank you so much for your help!

Answer
Hi Elizabeth,

Welcome to the world of back-saving. How large is your file (measurement units)?

First, all your drop shadows and effects are raster in nature, they are never vector. And you should be using Effects NOT Filters. Filters are BAD and have no control (they finally removed them completely in CS4). If you used Filters to create your drop  shadows, then you will need to remove them and redo them using Effects.

Whenever you have to flatten an AI image (ie go to v.8), any effect or filter will add a lot of size to your document, hence the increase in size.

To control your effects more efficiently, go to Effects>Document Raster Effects Settings and check to see what it is set to. Hi-res is 300 dpi. Anything higher will increase to  an unnecessary size to your file when you flatten to v. 8.

Next, when you resize, make sure under your preferences that you have checked "Scale Strokes and Effects". This will keep your effects proportionate when you scale.

This should help a lot, unless your image is super huge in size to begin with.

Thanks

Kevin