[cafe]

I use Maurice's solution for my MirageIII/Kfir and Bruno's Mirage 2000 recolors, except I "print" them them via PDFCreator. That way, I get smaller files (down to 200~250 kb from 600~800 kb) that open much more quickly. The F-16 recolors don't have this bloating issue. That's why the file names for those start with pdfc-, because I created them with PDF Creator and need to distinguish them from the original pdf.

eta: also, Inkscape has an option in the "file" menu to clean up the document. I didn't really notice any improvement when using it but it might help.

Inkscape doesn't like importing gradients. Sometimes they won't display at all and you'll just see a thin vertical line in their place. It's better to remove and remake them from scratch. Other times Bruno uses bitmap backgrounds (like those grilles on the Huey engine fairing). Inkscape doesn't play well with them either. Remove and replace as they can contribute to the bloating.