letterhead file too large

[Kim Horlander]

I had a graphics company design our letterhead and they provided me with a
template that is 444kb in size. When the template is opened to create a
letter it blows up to 12MB, making it impossible to email and clogging up the
servers with huge files. The graphics company says that this does not happen
when the file is on their computers. Is this some type of a setting that I
can change? I really don't want to have to delete the watermark, but I don't
know what else to do. It is either that or go to pre-printed letterhead.

Thanks.

Kim

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Two workarounds, neither of them ideal:

1. For onsite printing and postal mailing, the graphic in the template
should be linked rather than embedded. This will reduce the file size of
both the template and all the documents based on it.

2. This won't help for emailed documents, however, which must have the
graphic embedded. For that it may be preferable to create a low-res PDF.

Neither of these workarounds, however, addresses the root cause of the file
bloat. There are a number of reasons for excessive file size, including:

1. Fast Saves: Disable this at on the Save tab of Tools | Options.

2. Preview Picture: Clear the check box on the Summary tab of File |
Properties.

3. Versions (File | Versions): Make sure "Automatically save version on
close" is not turned on.

4. Revisions (Tools | Track Changes):
Highlight Changes: Make sure "Highlight changes on screen" is turned on
(or that "Final Showing Markup" is displayed).
Accept/Reject Changes: If "Accept All" or "Reject All" is available then
revisions are present; accept or reject all changes, then turn Track Changes
off.

5. Embedded True Type fonts (Tools | Options | Save); embedding fonts should
be avoided wherever possible.

6. Embedded graphics: When feasible, it is preferable to link the graphics.
That is, when you insert the graphic, click the arrow beside Insert in the
Picture dialog and choose Link to File rather than Insert or Insert and
Link.

7. Embedded objects: These are even worse than ordinary graphics saved with
the document. If you see an { EMBED } code, the graphic is an OLE object.
Unless you need to be able to edit the object in place, unlink it using
Ctrl+Shift+F9.

8. File format: Make sure you are saving as a Word document; in some cases
..rtf (Rich Text Format) files are significantly larger than .doc files.

9. Document corruption: See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.