[Knox]

Folks,

I can't figure out why my Omnigraffle files are so huge... and I can't see any obvious settings to look for...

Current Doc:
8 pages, mostly text.
No gradients, no shadows (thinking this might make files unwieldy?).
1 large JPG, but that's set to "link to image file" so I'd assume it's not "in the file"
4 screen shots, nothing over 100 k...

And yet, my file is 2.5 MB!


I have this issue all the time with Omni: JUST HUGE, HUGE FILES when I convert to PDF or even just save them native. Nothing unusual about paper size, and everything looks fine when printed/sent/no complaints

But this is a huge big pain. I can't just mail anything but the simplest docs to the client. It is causing me a lot of stress and have to think of work around to deliver files I'd certainly expect to just send, sometimes at a mad scramble, for example posting to to FTP to share, or even breaking my docs apart...and I've never had a document longer than 30 pages.

I feel like I am missing something obvious...

[Joel]

I'd double-check to see that the Quick Look preview is off in the Document Inspector, those previews are stored as PDFs inside the document; turning off the preview should reduce the file size considerably.

[whpalmer4]

Making sure the compress file on disk option is set (same inspector) should also help reduce the size of the OmniGraffle documents, if not any PDF files created from them.

Have you tried compressing the PDF files before mailing?

Originally Posted by Knox

And yet, my file is 2.5 MB!
... I have this issue all the time with Omni: JUST HUGE, HUGE FILES ... I can't just mail anything but the simplest docs to the client. It is causing me a lot of stress and have to think of work around to deliver files I'd certainly expect to just send, sometimes at a mad scramble, for example posting to to FTP to share, or even breaking my docs apart...and I've never had a document longer than 30 pages.

I feel like I am missing something obvious...

I can't help wondering whether you are not attacking the wrong end of the problem. Gmail to Gmail attachments can now be up to 25 Mb, but file sizes for all kinds of application are generally getting bigger (is it just me, or does 2.5 Mb not seem particularly large ?).

Email attachments, which are in any case not secure, are really ceasing to be the default way of sharing files in a professional context. (For a start you can never predict how full an addressee's inbox will be).

Much easier to email a URL, and perhaps share a password with your client, than to pull your hair out with procrustean schemes for artificial constraint of file size ... (Sooner or later a file will always be too big for some ceiling imposed by your email service)

(This may also be better for the client. They get to choose when and if to download your files. If they come in by mail, the client's email service may be involuntarily slowed down by large file transfers at a time over which they have limited control.)

There are a lot of options which are very quick and easy to use in a rush, from DropBox and me.com to more specialised services. I would begin by researching these, maybe starting with a simple google search like large files send url

--

[whpalmer4]

I completely agree with RobTrew's points, but expect there are a number of clients out there who are, uh, resistant to change if change means learning and doing something new. One minor disadvantage of sending a URL instead of an attachment is that the sender has to keep the link alive for as long as the client may need access. The times I most value the ability to send a URL instead of transferring a file directly are typically the times I'm most interested in immediately reclaiming the space in my Dropbox!

[Knox]

Hey thanks for those tips on that inspector panel. I've played with them before and tried a few more variations tonight in combo with linked/embedded placed images, but still not getting any real difference in the file size. It just looks like the program doesn't actually make any real difference on how it handles the placed images (linked or embedded). My only other hunch is to pay more attention to the native image sizes when size matters. Also, oddly, the PDFs are larger than the Omni, I don't see an obvious way to set/check the PDF rendering for it.

As far as hosting/drop box solution, yes, of course, though I've not tried dropbox. I had a wicked disaster with half a client on Basecamp years ago! Ha. Like I said, I'm often providing my files via FTP and or host live prototypes, but there are plenty of times I'd rather not do that. I work for many different companies, often all at once, and they come with a whole mix of different issues/solutions/knowledge (and me trying to keep that straight). There's definitely been clients where any thing but email is too complicated. And there's plenty of times where I just want to bang out a sketch and send it...

For me, it's just Omni files are very large compared to anything I'd expect out of InDesign, for example.

[whpalmer4]

Why don't you send one of your documents to omnigraffle@omnigroup.com via Help->Send Feedback so they can have a look and see if there is something in particular that is causing the file size to be so large? How large are the various files you are embedding?

[xiamenese]

You might like to take a look at SpiderOak, http://www.spideroak.com/. I was forced by circumstances to look for an alternative to Dropbox and was pointed to that amongst others.
It has a Linux-like interface, which means it is a little bit more troublesome to set up, but it has advantages: files on the server are encrypted under a zero-knowledge security system; you can tell it to synchronise any folders you like on the client machine(s), you don't have to have a specific folder like Dropbox; its sharing system is more limited, because of the security system, but that might be to your advantage, and clients can access the documents you want them to download through a web-browser when you send them a key combination for that particular sharing folder on the server ...
Apart from having to set it up through the Linux-style interface, once it's up and running, it's very easy to use. The window is persistent, so I've put it in its own space so it's not in the way but I can go to it when I want.
Oh, if necessary, it is available for OS-X, various flavours of Linux, and of Windows. Also there's an iPhone/iPod Touch client (I've downloaded that, but haven't set it up yet).
2 GB free space on the server; USD10/month for 100GB.

Mark

PS I'm not connected to the developers in any way, merely very happy to have found it, having had to migrate from Dropbox.