danspurling00 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Hello, I'm very new to Affinity. I downloaded the trial to see if it is something I want to purchase. I have an ai file (as well as a pdf) that was created in the latest Adobe Illustrator. If I open the file in Illustrator, I'm able to see hidden layers. (I'm working on a label design and have several options I'm considering) When I attempted to open the file in Affinity, I'm not seeing the hidden layers. Is there a way to view those within Affinity? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Callum Posted December 10, 2015 Staff Share Posted December 10, 2015 Hi Danspurling00 This happens because Adobe puts an .AI file in all of the PDF's you export. So when you re open the .PDF in Illustrator it automatically picks up the .AI file and brings the information from there. However Affinity isn't able to read the .AI file it can only read the .PDF and unfortunately .PDF's don't support hidden layers. You would have to make them all visible again export as .PDF and then bring that file into Affinity. Thanks C JFisher 1 Quote Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danspurling00 Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 Thank you, very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JevoUK Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Hi We use PDF's to send to our larger format inkjet printers at work, We set out files like this.. Top layer for the artwork Middle layer for the Camera dots Bottom layer for the CNC cutting file (This layer is hidden for the file we send to the printers) So when I open the PDF in AD the cutting layer will not import. Is there any reason AD can't read the AI file in the PDF? If it could it would make our transition to AD easier. Adrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 JevoUK...The AI file format is owned by Adobe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JevoUK Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 jmac I must be missing something, AD can import AI files so wouldn't this be possible to add to the PDF import? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 JevoUK, Files created in Illustrator can be saved with an embedded pdf in the AI file. It is that embedded PDF that Designer imports, not the native AI file. If there is no embedded PDF as sometimes happens with older versions of Illustrator, or if someone has saved the AI file and deselected the option to save with PDF, then Designer cannot open those AI files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JevoUK Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Thanks jmac I understand now. When we save our files from Illustrator as a PDF we use the "High Quality Print" preset and when imported into AD the hidden layers don't import, If we save the PDF file using the "Illustrator Default" preset the Hidden layers import. The attached file has the Pink square hidden and the file saved using the "Illustrator Default" setting Adrian test2.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Thanks JevoUK. I didn't realize that could make a difference. Good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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