Illustrator Layer Export Maintain Layers and Sub-Layers
Save a document with top level layers as well as sub layers as a PDF with sub layers in tact.
Anonymous
shared this idea
Hi
Please reach out to Illustrator forum as this seems like a Illustrator feature request. Since you are creating PDFs from Illustrator, we cannnot do much here.
Thanks
Tanvi
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Anonymous
commented
Take an illustrator ai with 100's of layers and save groups of layers as single PDFs. Let's say for example 100 layers saved into 10 PDFs containing 10 layers will result in (once combined in Acrobat) a 10 top layer grouping PDF with 10 layers within each grouping.
To do this the process is as follows: I must delete 90 layers, save as PDF, then undo to get those layers back (I now have one PDF with 10 layers). Then delete 90 different layers, save as PDF and then undo (I now have a second PDF with 10 layers). Repeat until i have 10 different PDFs with 10 different layers in each. I open one of those PDFs and import the other 9 PDFs retaining layers. The reason for this is each PDF I import is a layer grouping with 10 layers within it. If you were thinking in terms of a map you'd have a "Cities" heading with 10 different cities on 10 layers that could be individually toggled. Another layer grouping could be called "Highways" containing 10 layers with 10 different highways that visibility could be toggled individually.As it stands Illustrator cannot export PDFs with these layer groupings, it only exports top level layers with no layer grouping "folders". The result of exporting an entire PDF with 100 layers is 100 layers in a row with no layer headings or groupings, or layer groupings but no individual control of layers with groupings.