Can't Pack with SaveToFile() if PDFA is true for NewPDF() v8

[dreynolds]

I'm using GDPicture.NET Ultimate version 8 with .NET 4.0 in 64bit.

I noticed that PDF files I've been generating with the GDPicturePDF class are extremely large.

I finally traced the problem to the PDF/A parameter when using the NewPDF() method.

If the PDF/A parameter is true, then PackDocument has no effect when using SaveToFile(). The files seem to be the same size whether it is true or false.

If the PDF/A parameter is false, then PackDocument=true dramatically reduces file size when using SaveToFile() compared to when it is false, as expected.

Is this by design? Is it valid to pack a PDF/A document?

[Loïc]

Hello Don,

Actually packing is not supported for PDF/A created from scratch. Simply because we use PDF 1.5 features to better compress documents that are not supported in PDF 1.4 which is the version we use to generate PDF/A compliant documents. Such feature will be supported in minor release of the V9. I will contact you for the upgrade.

Kind regards,

Loïc

[dreynolds]

That's a shame because the size of a PDF/A with only a few characters of text is around 950kb. With packing it is around 5kb. That's a huge difference, especially since I'm dealing with extremely large volumes of documents. I don't think I would pay for the upgrade just for this feature since I just purchased v8, so I'll have to just avoid using PDF/A for now.

[Loïc]

That's a shame because the size of a PDF/A with only a few characters of text is around 950kb.

OK, but you should be aware that in PDF/A:
1- Font data must be embedded.
2- Special metadata is required.
3- ICC color profile must be embedded.

In your case, since you render text on your document, the point 1 should be the major reason on such file size difference. A solution would consists to use very small font from file.

[dreynolds]

Ok. Thanks. That's good to know. I think I can live without PDF/A for now.