dwg/dxf or Ai import, layer structure gets lost

[C_P]

When importing a dwg or dxf file or Adobe Illustrator the layer structure gets lost. All items are placed in the top layers and not in the sublayers where they originally belong.

It says, 

"DWG/DXF Import Import and edit AutoCAD and DXF files quickly and accurately, maintaining the layer structure and scale of the original file. With functions like Multi Layer Import, Colour Override and Auto-scale, import quality is second to none."

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Tim France]

Hi @C_P,

All DWG entities (polylines, hatches etc) belong in a layer. A DWG layer can't have child layers. A block insert is a collection of entities, which can all belong in different layers, so Affinity doesn't add block inserts to the layers panel because that would mean its children would be children of the block insert's parent, which is not necessarily the case.

Taking your drawing as an example, the first polyline under the insert could belong to layer 2023 EG. It doesn't in this drawing, but DWG allows for that, so you have to add the children of the block insert to the correct layer, not as a child of a block insert. More generally, if a block insert is in layer "1" and the block insert contains a circle in layer "2", Affinity puts the circle under layer "2" in the layers panel. This is what is meant by "preserving the layer structure".

It's a bit hard to explain with a forum post but I hope it makes sense.

 

Regards,

Tim