How can layers be organized into separate folders?

[typsocalguy]

[George_Johnson]

It depends on your workflow. What software are you using to create the source document (e.g., InDesign, Word, etc.)?

If you want to work with the layers (OCGs) in an existing PDF, there is no user interface in Acrobat to creating the layer hierarchy that results in the tree view that Acrobat/Reader uses. You can use JavaScript in Acrobat to set the OCG order though. See the setOCGOrder document method in the Acrobat JavaScript reference for more information.

[typsocalguy]

i am using Autocad to create the PDFs. Is there a way to control layer through CAD that would organize layer within folder when plotted to PDFthen?

[George_Johnson]

I believe there is, but I don't have the experience with it to help you out. My guess is that you would set up the layer hierarchy in AutoCAD and export/convert it to PDF in a way that retains it. You might want to ask in an AutoCAD related forum.

[typsocalguy]

Thank you for your help. Did more searching and it cannot be done using Acrobat Acrobat Pro and AutoCAD. Bluebeam is the only program capable of creating the tree hierarchy of layers.

[George_Johnson]

Do you know how that PDF you show in your original post was created?

[typsocalguy]

Nope, it was an example pdf and I do not know the sourse

[George_Johnson]

Out of curiosity, what does it show when you select: File > Properties > Description

particularly the entries for "PDF Producer" and "Application"?

[typsocalguy]

Application: Acrobat PDFMaker 7.0.5 for AutoCAD

PDF Producer: Acrobat Distiller 7.0

[George_Johnson]

So that would seem to indicate that what you want to do is possible with AutoCAD using PDFMaker, if you have the right version of each: Web browsers and PDFMaker applications compatible with Acrobat and Reader

[typsocalguy]

So I tried using a few version of PDFMaker through AutoCAD and it was not possible. There are no options within AutoCAD or the PDFMakers interface that would plot a pdf with the option of layers organized in folders.