Why are our 7.0.3 PDFs so large?

[Dan Moran]

We recently upgraded our server Confluence from 3.5.7 (!) to 7.0.3. 

A 3.5.7 PDF that was built at 5,000 KB now builds at 110,00 KB in 7.0.3. 

What could be going on?

Thanks!

[Jessica]

Hi @Dan Moran , first congrats on that big upgrade! 

Do you have jpgs on the page you are exporting to a pdf? If so, that may be the cause. 

Page PDF export size significantly increases if page consist of .jpeg/jpg images

If that could be the cause there is a workaround:

Workaround

Export the document to Word and then, convert it/save as a PDF file. 

Hope that helps!

[Dan Moran]

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, there are some graphics (mostly PNGs) in the section (that is, multiple pages) of the Space that I'm trying to export to PDF, but no more than there were previously (in Confluence 3,5,7) when I could export those pages to a 5,000 KB PDF, instead of the 110,000 KB PDF I get in 7.0.3.

It's not just that one Space, either.   I used to import a section of another Space to a 12,000 KB PDF, and in 7.0.3 it exports to a 280,000 KB PDF.

I'm thinking that there could be settings in 7.0.3 that is greatly enlarging these PDFs.

Or perhaps it is the inclusion of some HTML in version 7.0.3 that was not converted from 3.5.7?

(Apparently, I cannot export multiple pages to Word in 7.0.3.)

Please let me know if have any suggestions, and I'll keep experimenting.

Dan