PDFs Exported from Keynote No Longer Compressing in Acrobat Pro

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Level 1

4 points

PDFs Exported from Keynote No Longer Compressing in Acrobat Pro

Hi everyone,

I’ve run into an issue with PDFs exported from Keynote that used to work fine but no longer compress in Adobe Acrobat Pro. When I try to use the “Compress a PDF” tool, I get this error:

“An error was encountered while processing images.”

What’s Strange:

1. Old Keynote files that I exported to PDF and successfully compressed in Acrobat Pro in the past now fail with the same error.
2. This issue started recently, so I’m wondering if it could be related to either:

- - Keynote's latest update (Version 14.2).
  - macOS Sequoia (15.1.1) upgrade.

Here’s What I’ve Tried:

- Exporting new PDFs from Keynote with different quality settings (high-quality and reduced file size).
- Testing the Compress a PDF tool as well as the Save as Other > Reduced Size PDF option in Acrobat Pro.
- Using PowerPoint as a workaround: Exporting the Keynote file as a PPTX, then exporting to PDF from PowerPoint. These PDFs compress fine in Acrobat Pro.

Current Setup:

- MacOS: Sequoia 15.1.1
- Keynote: Version 14.2 (7041.0.109)
- Adobe Acrobat Pro: Build 24.4.20272.0

My Questions:

1. Has anyone else encountered this issue recently?
2. Could this be related to Keynote’s latest update or macOS Sequoia?
3. Are there any workarounds to avoid using PowerPoint to reprocess the files?

Thanks so much for your insights and help!

PhiSKT

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Dec 4, 2024 3:23 AM

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Answer 1

PhiSKT Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 17, 2024 10:50 PM in response to Camelot

Update: After the Sequoia 15.2 update, Acrobat can handle some PDFs exported from Keynote, but not others (including the original files i was working on)

Here's a comparison of file sizes using different methods:

Original PDF exported from Keynote (Best quality): 99.4 MB.
Automator compressed file and Preview Export with Quartz Filter (Reduce File Size) are about the same.
Preview + Acrobat Pro: 24.6 MB (from 59.3 MB)
Acrobat Pro (direct compression) gave me the smallest file size at 23.1 MB

Acrobat Pro works best for me in terms of file size.

If after the OS update, some Keynote PDFs can now be compressed by Acrobat Pro, future updates may fix the problem. Fingers crossed!

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Answer 2

PhiSKT Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 8, 2024 10:23 PM in response to Camelot

Hi Camelot,

Thanks so much for the reply.

I tried the Automator method (which is new to me), but the file size was significantly larger than what Acrobat Pro can accomplish. Also, an unexpected problem occurred: This method removes all the internal links (bookmarks) I set up in Keynote. After much trial and error, here’s a workaround that gave me acceptable results (smaller file sizes):

1. Export the file to PDF in Keynote.
2. Open the PDF in Preview and export it as a PDF with the Quartz Filter applied.
3. Open that file in Acrobat Pro for another round of compression.

This time, Acrobat successfully compressed the PDF. The advantage of this method, as opposed to using PowerPoint as the intermediate step, is that the document retains its original appearance from Keynote—no adjustments required.

Hope this helps anyone who’s facing the same issue, at least until Apple or Adobe fixes the problem.

Cheers,

PhiSKT

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Answer 3

Camelot

Level 9

55,737 points

Dec 4, 2024 12:41 PM in response to PhiSKT

I don't have Acrobat Pro installed to be able to verify, but the PDF 'standard' is very fluid, so it's possible that Apple added something to the latest PDFWriter software that Acrobat Pro is complaining about.

In the meantime, I have two ideas...

First, there are two ways of creating PDFs in Keynote... first via the File -> Export To menu, the second is via File -> Print -> Save as PDF. Does the same problem happen both ways?

The File -> Print uses the printing system to generate PDFs, which may be different from the internal Keynote method.

The second option, consider using Automator to streamline your compression workflow. A simple sequence to select a file and run through the Apply Quartz Filter to PDF Documents with the Reduce File Size option seems to work on a Keynote PDF file for me, and would be much easier than invoking PowerPoint::

In Automator.app, create a new Workflow with these two actions:

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Answer 4

Camelot

Level 9

55,737 points

Dec 9, 2024 9:08 AM in response to PhiSKT

This is odd.

Mostly because there shouldn't be a significant difference whether you use Preview or Automator to apply the Quartz filter. It should be the same filter that's doing the work, the only difference is how you invoke it, so I'm not sure why Automator is losing the links

Are the file sizes similar after the Automator and Preview steps?

Either way, I'm glad we found a workaround.

Also, I'm curious - how much additional compression does Acrobat Pro get you? I don't have Acrobat Pro to be able to test that part myself.

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Answer 5

Jan 18, 2025 9:26 AM in response to Camelot

I ran into the same problem after the latest MacOS update to Sequoia 15.2.

I need to compress my Keynote slides before uploading them to Moodle, and I always used Acrobat Pro, which did a good job. Now, it says, "An error was encountered while processing images.".

Your discussion taught me that Preview can also reduce the file size. Thanks, that worked, and Acrobat can also process the reduced file (as opposed to the PDF output from Keynote).

Here are the results:

Keynote PDF: 28.7 MB

Preview / Export with Quartz Filer "Reduce File Size": 14.7 MB

Acrobat "compress PDF" (using the Preview output): 6.7 MB

(It's a pity that I now need two steps to do that – I guess I'll have to learn Automator)

Best, Martin

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