[libreoffice-users] How does 4.4 compress PDFs so well? Is there a quality problem?

I edit a community magazine using LibreOffice Writer. I create a PDF from the
final version, which I send electronically to the printing company, which
prints the PDF.

To create the PDF, I use the settings "Lossless compression" and do not
reduce image resolution. The resulting PDF is usually in excess of 100Mb,
presumably mainly because of all the images used.

This month, I have created the PDF using both the current stable version
4.3.4.1 and the beta version 4.4.0.0. (I used the beta version because of a
new small bug in 4.3.)

Fascinating results!

Visually, the two PDFs look the same (apart from the small bug). I've
printed a sample page from each PDF and compared them, and they appear
equally-good quality.

However, the sizes are dramatically different. The PDF from 4.3.4.1 is
157.7Mb, which is roughly what I'd expect from past experience. The same PDF
from 4.4.0.0 is a mere 27Mb, just a sixth of its size.

Adding up the sizes of all the images, they come to (approximately) 30Mb.
So, it seems to me that the current version perhaps stuffs the files with
unnecessary content — or perhaps decompresses the images when saving —
whereas the beta version seems to save the files decently compressed.

So, are you able to tell me…

How is the PDF from the beta version so small — or the PDF from the current
version so large?
Am I going to get an unwelcome surprise in the quality of the printed copy
if I send the PDF from 4.4.0.0?
Does the current version use some amazing compression to create its PDF?
Or does the old version stuff the file full of unnecessary content?

Thanks in advance.



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