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sequence W4
Known Participant
April 11, 2018
Question

Layers are lost when saving as PDF

  • April 11, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 13877 views

When saving a single page document from InDesign as a PDF all layer information is lost.

All the layers exist but are jumbled up in one layer and unnamed in a clip group. Why is this?

I then have to rebuild thus:

I then have to rebuild the layer sequence order in Illustrator for subsequent delivery to AfterEffects and Premiere. It is important to do this as the latest updates of Premiere Pro, After Effects and Media Encoder don't support PNG files

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    3 replies

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2018

    https://forums.adobe.com/people/sequence+W4  wrote

    When saving a single page document from InDesign as a PDF all layer information is lost.

    Hi,

    as Bob already mentioned:

    The layer information can only make it to the PDF if you allow it during PDF Export. There is a checkbox for it.

    You wrote:

    The problem is InDesign does not save these Layers correctly in the Adobe protocol.

    What do you mean by "Adobe protocol"? What by "correctly"?

    If you export PDF from InDesign you can allow "layers" in the PDF. Just open the PDF with Acrobat Pro DC and check the Layers View there. It seems that you open the PDF with Adobe Illustrator. That will transform any PDF content to Illustrator objects. If "layers" do not transfer as "layers" how you need them from an Illustrator perspective then I suggest you'd do a feature request with the Illustrator team.

    Regards,
    Uwe

    S
    sequence W4Author
    Known Participant
    April 11, 2018

    I used PDF (interactive) export as that has an option for Layers

    The acrobat 8/9 doesn't seem to have a Layers option:

    When you open this PDF in Illustrator you get 1 unnamed Layer with all the items in a Clip Group. All the items in the group are correct in terms of order, mode, font etc.

    thanks - Pete

    S
    sequence W4Author
    Known Participant
    April 11, 2018

    Maybe someone has made a script?

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2018

    BTW, from InDesign you must select the layers option in the export dialog.

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2018

    What does this have to do with InDesign? That doesn't appear to be an InDesign layer panel. Looks like Illustrator.

      S
      sequence W4Author
      Known Participant
      April 11, 2018

      Hi Bob,

      That is an strange response!

      Many designers use InDesign to create assets for video and animation. The designers collate items in layers to organise their pages. The problem is InDesign does not save these Layers correctly in the Adobe protocol. This causes extra work reconstructing the layers in other Adobe software.

      As less assets are made in Illustrator and more and more in InDesign for multiple purposes this has become a real issue.

        BobLevine
        Community Expert
        BobLevineCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        April 11, 2018

        Are you looking at an email response or the web? I hit send accidentally and then edited the response.

        Go back to the web and read it.

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