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PDF created with Illustrator is showing hidden layers. Sometimes.

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
April 6, 2017
7 replies
27965 views

I admit I am an Illustrator noob. I'd like to understand what is happening here, and avoid it if I can. I created a PDF from an illustration, after hiding a couple of layers. I thought that the PDF would only have the layers that were visible, and when I open it in all the various readers I have on my PC, that was the case. Recently, though, a friend printed it from his Mac (I'm not sure which app), and ALL the layers printed on top of one another. How can I prevent that extra information from being in the PDF in the first place? TIA!

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Correct answer KateyBut

After saving as PDF, hidden layers suddenly started showing up when printed. The only way I was able to stop that from happening was to delete the hidden layer in illustrator prior to saving to PDF. This issue just started showing up for some reason. I have saved many PDF files for print and never had a problem. Hope this helps someone..

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KateyBut

Participating Frequently

Unwanted layers show on the printout of a PDF when exported from Illustrator.

I was having a problem with layers showing up in the printout even when they did not show on the pdf itself. This was from layers created by "Illustrator".

Solution:

Move any layers in Illustrator you don't want to show to the bottom of the layer stack. Make sure they are closed as well. I also added a layer at the top of those I didn't want to see in the printout and filled that layer with white. PDF export settings didn't matter then. Worked every time.

Hope this helps.

Kathy

Monika Gause

Community Expert

@KateyBut schrieb:

Unwanted layers show on the printout of a PDF when exported from Illustrator.

I was having a problem with layers showing up in the printout even when they did not show on the pdf itself. This was from layers created by "Illustrator".

Solution:

Move any layers in Illustrator you don't want to show to the bottom of the layer stack. Make sure they are closed as well. I also added a layer at the top of those I didn't want to see in the printout and filled that layer with white. PDF export settings didn't matter then. Worked every time.

Hope this helps.

Kathy

It's really better to delete layers before exporting a PDF that you send to someone else for printing. Just avoid any irritation.

K

KateyBut

Participating Frequently

Thank you 🙂

A

acriptia9

Participant

I just had a similar situation where a client gave me an illustrator pdf with a hidden layer. I made some modifications to the visible layer, that he requested, but left his hidden layer in the file. He printed it many times using Acrobat without any problem but then he tried to print it using Microsoft Edge and the hidden layer showed up. The hidden layer did not appear when the file was opened in photoshop nor when opening it in Acrobat in Edit view. Ultimately, I just had to delete the hidden layer.

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Leslie5C80

Participant

Illustrator hiding images it shows in PDF file. Only show in Firefox browser. IE and Chrome are fine.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

So you import a PDF and the images are done?

Has the PDF been created in Illustrator and has it been saved with "Preserve editing capabilities"?

Otherwise there is no guarantee that you can import it or edit it or whatever.

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-ten-commandments-of-pdf.html

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Leslie5C80

Participant

Thank you very helpful!

J

jennafers69294864

Participant

YES!

Turning the acrobat layers off when saving the PDF in Illustrator worked.

Thank you!!

marcr96060040

Participant

This seems to only happen when the file is viewed in Apple's Preview app and nowhere else. Saving various versions is not really an efficient solution, and deleting layers you don't want to be published makes no sense if they are integral to your file in some way. I've only been able to identify the program this issue appears in. When time permits I'll try a variety of settings to see what works (or doesn't). I don't think "Create Acrobat Layers For Top Level_Layers" works in this case when Apple's Preview sees the hidden layer(s) which is also at the very top of the layer stack.

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autumnf81148833

Inspiring

Have you figured out a resolution? I'm having this same problem. I cannot get .AI's non-print layers to show in Apple Finder's Preview. Or, any print layer below the top layer. It only shows the top layer. I have a ticket with Apple and their engineering team review. They said it's a problem with Adobe Illustrator itself - and not Apple.

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autumnf81148833

Inspiring

You actually can control that with Print Layers option , then use the Done button and save your .ai, then you .pdf.. Though the wording say "Print" this applies to the creation of PDFs also. So for example choose "Visible Layers" and only the visible layers will show in the pdf.

FYI - We did the Print Settings on the .AI, but clicked "Done" instead of print - it didn't resolve the issue but instead now our "non-print" layers are now "printing" when we go to engrave them. So - that workaround deff. does not work.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

If you don't want to see the hidden layers in your pdf, delete them.

Acrobat will hide the layers that are supposed to be hidden, but they are still there and can be turned on.

Other PDF viewers, like Preview on the Mac, will ignore that and show the hidden layers.

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caresrgAuthor

Participating Frequently

Sorry for the slow reply, folks, I'm visiting my niece at her college this week and working while she's in class. If Preview for Mac prints all layers, I'm sure that's what he's using. I do need to keep the layers in the source doc; we use different versions sometimes. Below is a screenshot with all the layers showing, and below that are the settings I used (with only the desired layer showing, of course), but I'm wondering if unchecking the Create Acrobat Layers would help.

megans47476266

Participating Frequently

Hi Caresrg,

I would try exporting it by unclicking "create acrobat layers from top-level layers" as you said. I completely understand the need to keep hidden layers, but it is definitely a strange occurrence that this is happening. I played a lot with hidden layers yesterday in Illustrator and I still could not get the hidden layers to appear. If this keeps happening you could take the Illustrator file and open it in InDesign and export it from there. I know that is a very backwards way of handling the issue, but I have seen other people have success with that. Let me know what happens.

-Megan

megans47476266

Participating Frequently

Hi Tia,

To really answer your question, I may be necessary to know which app your friend printed your PDF in. To get a better sense of what is going on, can you tell me if there hidden layers are on your artboard? Also does the same thing happen when you export the project as a png?

-Megan

megans47476266

Participating Frequently

Another suggestion I have is making sure these options are clicked when you export the PDF.

C

caresrgAuthor

Participating Frequently

Yes, there are hidden layers. Those are what I don't want in the PDF. I don't know which app he used, and he is too busy at work to help me figure this out, but it really shouldn't matter (although it would be admittedly nice to test out). I'm wondering if unchecking the "preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" and unchecking "create Acrobat Layers from Top-Level Layers" in the dialog you show might work?

Do you know why the data was getting into my PDF, regardless of which app was used to print it?

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