Well I figured this out, at least with my needs. I first scanned a map. then made cropmarks for positioning. From there I copied and pasted each overlay on another master document. I worked with RGB colors to save space. I ended up with seven overlays. When completed I flattened the artwork after checking over the map 3 or 4 times to make sure everything is correct. I got rid of the Original map that I used as a guide at that point. After flatting the overlays, I then Grouped everything and locked the Map on the first overlay again. I am using the second overlay so I can make it interactive with the map below. When I was working with the map when I asked for help, I was saving everything. I'm still not sure why such a big file the first time, unless it was because I was using the scanned map, and overlays, which caused large file. (crossing a RGB and 4 color map canceled out what I was trying to cut down on?) Well everything on this map is done and looks really good. I cut my old file of 235 MB before it wouldn't let me save anymore, down to 1.39 MB. with a lot more info that when the old map wouldn't take anymore. Now I have one more map to do the same way. It's a little smaller map but I know how to go about it. I might be missing out on some stuff. I haven't worked with embedding and linking files. Hey if anyone knows something that I just discribed that can be done a better way, I'm all ears.