No probs! :) The general idea should work though, as long as there's some way to uniquely identify each row between the different tables.

OK, my idea is too long to put in a comment, so I'll edit my answer instead.

Fair enough! It seems that Packbits gives you the best access times (at expense of disk space), whereas Deflate gives you intermediate/slow access times for intermediate/small files. Also, you can test access times more empirically by creating thumbnails of various sizes and timing how long it takes. Example command: "time gdal_translate -outsize <thumbnail dimensions> -of GTiff <compressed image file> <thumbnail file>"

Even though ArcGIS is a GIS program, the PDF export function is a bit out of scope here. I.e., it's not directly related to a GIS problem; it's more of a general IT question. I recommend asking the guys at Stack Overflow instead, you'll be more likely to get an answer in time. I would guess that your versions of Arc and Adobe are incompatible, but can't tell you what to do about it. At Stack Overflow they'll be more likely to know. Also, be sure to ask ESRI themselves. Good luck! :)

How accurate could that be, seeing as how you don't have a tripod or anything?

Good answer, it summarizes your options well. Remember also that each of those compression methods has parameters you can set, which will influence the outcome considerably. @j03lar50n, glad you found my blog article useful ...