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export layers to .pdf

Guru ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Hey guys,

 

I looked around and i can't find what i am looking for.

i have an indesign layout. it has 56 layers. i need to export a .pdf with each layer been in its own .pdf

 

I am on the latest version of indesign.

 

thank you.

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How to , Scripting

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Hi Jonathan, What OS are you using? My Layers To Photoshop AppleScript does it, but the PDFs get trashed after they have been transferred to Photoshop. It would be easy to edit and keep the layer PDFs.

 

http://www.zenodesign.com/forum/PageToPSLayersV8.zip

 

 

 

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Hi,

 

if you use the ExportFile method with a the PDFExportPresets, this has the following options for layers.

ExportLayerOptions.EXPORT_ALL_LAYERS

ExportLayerOptions.EXPORT_VISIBLE_LAYERS

ExportLayerOptions.EXPORT_VISIBLE_PRINTABLE_LAYERS

 

So you could have a script that sets 1 layer visible, exports usint the "Export_Visible_Layers" option marked, then hide that layer and show the next and continue 56 times.

 

Let us know if you need more help with the script ( sorry not at my main machine so unable to create a sample at the moment)

 

Regards

 

Malcolm

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Guru ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Thank you for the quick response, i exported all layers and this below is what i get, its a 4 page .pdf with the layers, but how do i see the layers? 

Screen Shot 2020-09-01 at 10.05.30 AM.png

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Advocate ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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I'm confused. In the left column Acrobat is showing a list of all the document's layers. Click on the eyeball icon to turn on and off each layer's visibility.

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Guru ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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nothing happens when i click the eye

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Also, you run my AppleScript out of InDesign with the document active.

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Guru ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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hey Rob,

it did export each layer in its own .pdf however, the .pdf files all back blank pages like the other script suggested:

Screen Shot 2020-09-02 at 10.36.33 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-09-02 at 10.36.39 AM.png

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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I can see you are on OSX, try this AppleScript. Asks for a folder to save the layer PDFs in, and then you chose a PDF preset and the page number:

 

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/aadf5dfb-402a-4200-543c-c1a83ba58b4d

 

 

Screen Shot 1.png

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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You can try this .jsx script. 

 

 

 

var doc = app.documents[0];
var filePath = doc.filePath;
var docName = doc.name.replace(".indd","");
var layers = doc.layers;
layers.everyItem().visible = false;
app.pdfExportPreferences.exportWhichLayers = ExportLayerOptions.EXPORT_VISIBLE_LAYERS;
for (var i = 0; i < layers.length; i++) {
    var layerName = layers[i].name;
    layers[i].visible = true;
    doc.exportFile(ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE, File(filePath + "/" + docName + "_" + layerName + ".pdf"), false);
    layers[i].visible = false;
}

 

 

 

 

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Advisor ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Hello,

 

Give  Scott Zanelli's PageExporterUtility a try for your needs, the script and instructions can be downloaded form the link below.

https://indesignsecrets.com/page-exporter-utility-peu-5-script-updated-for-cs3.php

 

Regards,

Mike

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Oh, that looks handy.

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Guru ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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yes, i tried this  indesign exports the artwork on only about 5 of the layers, even though all the layers are being exported

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Community Expert ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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Did you try the snippet I provided?

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Guru ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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this script did export each layer in its own .pdf. however, all of the .pdf files are blank and they all have multiple pages in them (also blank)

Screen Shot 2020-09-02 at 10.00.34 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-09-02 at 10.00.38 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-09-02 at 10.00.45 AM.png

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Community Expert ,
Sep 01, 2020 Sep 01, 2020

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Jonathan said: "…nothing happens when i click the eye"

 

Hi Jonathan,

in Acrobat Pro see what you can find enabled and disabled in the Layer Properties dialog and set the options the way you want them. Default state, visibility and so on:

 

Acrobat-LayerProperties-2.PNG

 

Result now in this case when clicking the eye symbol:

Acrobat-LayerProperties-3.PNG

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

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Guru ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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hi, this did not work on my machine, i may need to update my acrobat, i will un-install and re-install if needed.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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Did you try my AppleScript?

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Guru ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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yes sir

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Advisor ,
Sep 02, 2020 Sep 02, 2020

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Hello,

 

Did you give Scott Zanelli's PageExporterUtility a try for your needs, the script and instructions can be downloaded form the link below.

https://indesignsecrets.com/page-exporter-utility-peu-5-script-updated-for-cs3.php

 

Regards,

Mike

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Guru ,
Sep 03, 2020 Sep 03, 2020

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yes, i tried that when i was looking this up before testing. The program exports the artwork on only about 5 of the layers, even though all the layers are being exported.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 03, 2020 Sep 03, 2020

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Hi Jonathan,

sorry, but I have to ask that:

 

Are the layers that do export empty are perhaps filled with contents that is formatted as non-printing?

Or are the layers themselves perhaps defined as non-printing? Check this with your layer options.

A non-printing layer's name should be listed in italics in the Layer panel.

 

Can we have a look at your InDesign PDF Export settings you are using for this project?

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

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Guru ,
Sep 03, 2020 Sep 03, 2020

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Hey Uwe,

i do have layers as print layers:

Screen Shot 2020-09-03 at 9.28.16 AM.png

and these are my export settting:

Screen Shot 2020-09-03 at 9.28.50 AM.png

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