Can I remove large canvas setting?

[Franky Spills]

Hello all.

I work with really large set designs.  A current project I'm workign on is 110 feet long and 12 feet tall.

I created that cavas size in illustrator and worked to scale.  However I'm breaking down the wall into 4 ft by 8 ft panels.

So I've broken down the wall designs into those panels and placed them onto individual artboards.  I've saved them out at PDFs.  I need to save them out as DXF's but I no longer have that option becasue I'm in large scale. However I thought If I opend up the 4x8 PDF I would be able to export it from there.  HOWEVER when i open it, even thought the artboard is only 4x8 and I only have 1 artboard.  AI still seems to think this is large canvas size and I do not get the option to export as a DXF or DWG.

Any thoughts?  Really need to get these panels out as a DXF to my CNC guy.

Thanks!

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

You have exceeded the max size limits for file formats.

You should be working at 50% split up into panels. I would build max 2x4 ft panels.

Your CNC guy will enlarge using his software to full size. Since its all vector it wont degrade.

[Franky Spills]

Totally understand that.  Unfortunately, the art is already created with many layers which I need to keep.  The art is created in AI to scale and no matter what- if I scale everything down so the entie art is fit's in one artboard that is 2'x4" my AI still will not export out as a DXF.  The setting isn't available because AI on this doc thinks it's still a large doc.  I have to open a new file and cut/copy/paste everything, layer by layer.   This is too much for the 40+ walls i have.  What I'd like to do is just remove the Large Document "Function/setting/parameter" from my current document.  Is that possible?

[Ton Frederiks]

"I have to open a new file and cut/copy/paste everything, layer by layer."

When you turn on Paste remembers Layers in the Layers panel menu, layers will be replicated in the new document. So you can select all and paste into a new document without losing layers.

[Franky Spills]

That is a great tip and really helpfull thanks.

Still anyone on how to revert a large scale Ai doc back to small scale?  Without cutting and pasting into a new document Is it even possible?  

[Ton Frederiks]

I am not aware of a way to change large canvas back to a regular one.

You could make a feature request here: https://illustrator.uservoice.com

[CarlosCanto]

I saved a copy of a large canvas document to svg, opened the svg in illustrator and it let me export to DXF.

[Franky Spills]

That almost works for me.

My document is a large wall... I've broken it up into 42, 8 x 4 foot panels.  Each panel is on an artboard.

If I "Save As SVG" I can save the Artboards..  I end up with 42 files, but each file has the entire wall in it.  Not just the panel.  However, this process does retain the layering.

If I export as "SVG" each artboard exports individually BUT I lose the layering and the SVG collapses the files layers into 1 layer.

[CarlosCanto]

damn, almost, back to the drawing board 🙂