PDF comparison with LuraDocument

As part of our current scanning procedures, our Imaging Techs take our full resolution TIF images and convert them to bitonal GIFs using a Photoshop action. They then take those GIFs and pull them into a PDF so that users can download an entire volume for offline viewing - "grab and go" as I like to call it. We've been downsampling to a bitonal GIF so that the PDF is relatively small, but even then they are usually between 30-70MB. Not to mention they're bitonal, which is fine for text but terrible for illustrations!

Download a PDF made from bitonal GIFs (26MB)

So imagine my delight after evaluating LuraTech's LuraDocument and being able to compress full resolution (and color depth) images down to an 11MB PDF:

Download this better PDF made from color & greyscale images (11MB)
*Note - we scan text in greyscale and color illustrations in color. This was done to save server space, but we're reconsidering this approach and will probably scan everything in color.

**Note - There are watermarks on every page because this is an evaluation version of the software.

Users are harvesting our PDFs en masse, especially those in remote corners of the world without ready access to the internet, so we'd like to provide the best possible PDF. Our intention is still to provide full quality images via our web-based page navigation interface; this is just a better option for those who want to grab the entire PDF in one fell download.