PDF created with Illustrator is showing hidden layers. Sometimes.

[caresrg]

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!

[autumnf81148833]

Oh gotcha - No we need our "non print" layers to not print at all or else we have waisted material. 

Besides that, the workaround mentioned for showing non-print layers to be visible in Adobe Acrobat ends up only engraving half the art (and engraves the non-print layers) instead of the full sheet of art.  We can't change the "custom size" in the general print settings - it's grayed out.

Working from Adobe Acrobat for PDF's may be helpful for some others.  Unfortunately, since we do not use PDF's for our workflow nor do we use Adobe Acrobat for our workflow, Illustrator truly needs to fix the non-print layer issue in actual Illustrator .AI files for Sierra 10.12.4.

[don2824lambson]

perfect explanation Mike.

Thanks.

issue resolved.

(not sure why this problem didnt pop up the last 13 years ive been making PDF's for laser cutting, anyway, just glad you helped me solve it.)

[don2824lambson]

also, im looking for the 'correct' button below your answer - and am not seeing it. sorry.

[Mike_Gondek]

Thanks Don, glad that helped you, many people miss that feature myself included.

Only the orinigal poster can mark an answer as correct. Anyone can click on helpful and/or like.

[jennafers69294864]

YES!

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

Thank you!!

[Leslie5C80]

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

[Monika Gause]

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

[Leslie5C80]

Thank you very helpful!

[Luke Jennings3]

Some PDF viewers will ignore layer properties and show all of the layers, even if they are turned off or set to never show. The solution is to only use Acrobat or Reader to view your PDFs, or delete the unwanted PDF layers in Illustrator or Acrobat.

[Leslie5C80]

Yes I have follow your advice and delete the unwanted PDF layers in Illustrator.

Thank you very much! 

[KateyBut]

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

[acriptia9]

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.

[KateyBut]

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]

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@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

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

[KateyBut]

Thank you 🙂