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April 5, 2017
Answered

Layers visible in Acrobat, but not showing in Illustrator

  • April 5, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 3865 views

Hello,

I have several PDFs from client.

When opened in Acrobat, I can se all the layers, I can even switch them on/off, but when opened in Illustrator, there are no layers at all - just one object.

The PDF was generated in Illustrator CC 2015.3 (mac), I am opening it in actual Illustrator CC 2017 (pc).

Any help?

Vit

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Doug A Roberts

    this is possible if the PDF was saved with illustrator editing capabilities turned off, but 'Create Acrobat Layers' turned on in the PDF save options. you might need to go back to the client and tell them to 'Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities'.

    2 replies

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 5, 2017

    Acrobat "Layers" are not the same as layers in Illustrator.

    Acrobat "layers" are a way to organize content and are actually Optional Content Groups (OCG).

    Like Doug said, if the file was not saved with Illustrator Editing Capabilities, you cannot retreive the layers in Illustrator.

    Doug A Roberts
    Community Expert
    Doug A RobertsCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    April 5, 2017

    this is possible if the PDF was saved with illustrator editing capabilities turned off, but 'Create Acrobat Layers' turned on in the PDF save options. you might need to go back to the client and tell them to 'Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities'.

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