I have several extremely large files that need to originate as RTF* files but later converted to PDF. As a point of reference, the largest RTF file is around 350 MB. When converted to DOCX in Word, it's about 40 MB. This is extreme. Typically the files are 10-70 MB RTF and 1-10 MB DOCX. These files are all tables, and all contain headers and footers also within tables.
The issue is that these files take many hours to convert to PDF. The largest has never been successfully converted (did not finish over an entire weekend). Our computers are not top of the line, but they are not ancient either:
Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 64-bit OS
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E4500 @ 2.20 GHz
4.00 GB RAM
Acrobat 9 Pro
Word 2007
I am looking to reduce the time to convert these files. A few questions:
1) Is it quicker to convert an RTF, DOC, or DOCX file?
2) Is the problem stemming from 1 large file exhausting resources? That is, would chopping the files up into smaller pieces make the total time faster, or is the time mostly dependent on the sheer volume of data to convert? (10 small files might convert in less than 1/10th the time).
3) Would stripping the tables out of the header and footer, and reinputting as regular text would help?
4) Is this simply a memory issue?
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael
* For the curious, these are displays produced from SAS using ODS RTF. I cannot output directly to PDF, as the files need some manual review and editing first.
