Designer. PDF layers get split while opening file.

[mardmartz]

Hi! I'm currently working on some architectural plans using AutoCAD and the Affinity suite. I export a PDF from AutoCAD with the basic scaled drawings, then import it into Designer.

The problem is that during this process, the layers I created in AutoCAD get split into tons of duplicate layers with the same names. Usually, when it's a small file, I just merge them manually one by one — but this time it's a much larger drawing, so it's getting really annoying.

Does anyone know why this happens or if there's a workaround?

Thanks in advance!

[Hangman]

Hi @mardmartz and welcome to the forums,

Do you see the same issue if exporting to DWG or DXF from AutoCAD and then opening the exported files in Designer?

[mardmartz]

On 4/21/2025 at 9:25 AM, Hangman said:

Hi @mardmartz and welcome to the forums,

Do you see the same issue if exporting to DWG or DXF from AutoCAD and then opening the exported files in Designer?

This works perfectly! Coming from Adobe Illustrator, I didn’t expect Designer to recognize the different layouts I created in CAD. Thanks for the help!

[Hangman]

Just now, mardmartz said:

This works perfectly! Coming from Adobe Illustrator, I didn’t expect Designer to recognize the different layouts I created in CAD. Thanks for the help!

That's no problem at all, I'm glad that provided a solution to the issue...