Age old question, more page content=bigger file size??

[JR2ALTA]

so, a definitive answer please..

does the more content on an original, scanned PDF make the file size bigger, as opposed to less fill?

Is each area of fill more data or is a picture of the a page just a picture of a page?

thanks in advance

(please include some computer science in your answer)

[SargeNZ]

Re: Age old question, more page content=bigger file size??

Test it yourself! Scan a page of text , then scan a page with a pen mark on it. Which is larger?

Or do you want us to do your homework for you?

[emujo]

Re: Age old question, more page content=bigger file size??

File size is determined by resolution, color mode (B&W, Grey Scale, Color, searchable, editable) and the amount of info on the page. You can scan the same page between 3-4 different manufactures and get 3-4 different file sizes. I do like the method KM uses with the "compact" files. Most of the compression is done on the background, and the text is pretty much left alone. Results are file sizes up to 10 times smaller. Any customer that has concerns when they see a single scanned page with a 6% fill show up in an email as a 2 MB file automatically gets defaulted to compact PDF or TIFF. Sorry I have no "scientific" answer for you, but you can look in the KM theory of operation to get what little info they provide about scanning and compression algorithms. Emujo

[Jules Winfield]

Re: Age old question, more page content=bigger file size??

so, a definitive answer please..

does the more content on an original, scanned PDF make the file size bigger, as opposed to less fill?

Is each area of fill more data or is a picture of the a page just a picture of a page?

thanks in advance

(please include some computer science in your answer)

It sounds like you are trying to prove something to a customer and you want some hard numbers to back up your story. I hate to admit it, but this is a salesman's job. Techs fix machines. Salesmen weave intricate tapestries of bullshit. This is a sales job...

[TheOwl]

Re: Age old question, more page content=bigger file size??

Here is some food for thought:

All data is basically 1's and 0's. The more 1's and 0's there are in a file, the more "data" it contains.

Example:

000000000001 in binary = 1

001111101000 in binary = 1000

As you can see, there is a lot more data in 1000 than what there is in 1. Now depending on what type of file you are trying to scan the document as will determine the size to start with.

Compact PDF will compress right down and the theory behind compact PDF's is that they should be near 1/100th the size of a standard PDF. This is to do with the compression that is used to remove 1's and 0's that aren't required for actual screen output.

In essence, the more there is on a page except for a white background, the more 1's and 0's that are required to place pixels on the page to create the image.

This is a very basic explanation of what constitutes file size, but it should be enough to get an understanding.