Yes, you can reduce the size of PDF files exported by iStudio Publisher by using a collection of FREE PDF filters written by Jerome Colas. (Many Thanks Jerome!)

IMPORTANT: These filters are designed to reduce PDF file size by compressing the images included within a PDF. If your document is all text or only includes low resolution images, the filters will not help and may actually result in a larger file size than would otherwise be created without them.

To install the filters:

  1. Download the reduce PDF file size filters.
  2. If your computer is running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or later, you may need to complete the following steps a. to c. to make the Library folder visible in Finder:
    1. Navigate to the Utilities folder, which is located in the Applications folder.
    2. Open the Terminal application.
    3. Enter (or copy and paste) the following command into the terminal window, press the Return key to execute the command, and enter your admin password when requested:
      sudo chflags nohidden /Library/
  3. Unzip the filters. NOTE: Some web browsers, including Safari, will unzip the filters automatically, and put them in a folder called Filters (in your Downloads folder).
  4. On Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or later, copy the filters to this folder:
    Macintosh HD/Library/PDF Services
    On Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or earlier, copy the filters to this folder:
    Macintosh HD/Library/Filters

Here’s a screen shot of Finder showing the filters in the /Library/PDF Services folder:
PDF filters copied into the /Library/PDF Services/ folder

To use the filters:

To export a reduced size PDF file, simply follow these steps:

  1. In iStudio Publisher (or any other app), choose menu option File > Print.
  2. On the print dialog box, click the PDF drop-down button (it’s in the bottom left corner).
  3. Choose one of the reduce PDF file size filters by clicking it. It’s best to choose 300 dpi or more for documents that are going to be printed out, but fine to choose a lower resolution if the PDF will only be viewed on a monitor.
  4. Your reduced sized PDF file will be saved to your Desktop with a filename that starts with the name of your iStudio Publisher document file and ends with the filter name.

Here’s a screen shot showing the filters available to choose from in step 3 above:
PDF filters available from the PDF drop-down button in the print dialog

For more information about these PDF filters, click here to see an Apple Support Communities discussion topic about them.

An alternative way to reduce the image resolution is to export a PDF file from iStudio Publisher and then process this PDF file using a separate application. PDF Squeezer is a good app for this. There’s a free demo version of PDF Squeezer, which won’t allow you to save but will inform you about the file size reduction.