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I can't see layers when opening PDF file in Illustrator exported from Affinity Designer


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Hello there, I work in AD. The software is great, thanks for that. I need to export to PDF or SVG or EPS, does not matter to me ... including layers, that I could open the file in Adobe Illustrator and could see the layers. I was trying to find out on affinity forum, but I was not successful. Is there a way to do that please?

 

Unfortunately, exporting to PDF does not do the job. Nothing is rasterized and after opening in illustrator there is just one layer instead of 3 created in AD.

And what more, there are separated objects, the ones with fill and the ones with strokes. I mean, in AD it is an object with fill and stroke and after exporting to PDF and opening in AI these are two different objects, one with stroke and one with fill. I don't know why is that ?

 

Thanks for help.

I attached a file.

1100235_58_ultra_terno.afdesign

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Hi Magic Jack , welcome to the forums.

 

If I use "PDF (for export)" and then reopen the PDF in Designer, the layers are present, and they are also recognised by Acrobat Pro (and can be switched on or off). That Illustrator ignores them is a limitation of Illustrator, and I suggest you ask Adobe about it.

 

I think the stroke is being output separately from the fill because of the clipping. In Designer we can clip to filled shapes, but in PDF the clip is a separate thing. The body is getting output as the filled shape behind, then the vertical bar that is clipped to the shape, then the stroke of the shape. If you change the colour of the vertical bar you can see that this is correct and that the stroke has to be on top of the bar and the bar has to be on top of the fill; if the shape was output as a single thing with both stroke and fill, and the bar on top, then the appearance of the bar would change.

 

So I'm afraid this is the best we can do, given the limitations of PDF and Illustrator.

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Thank you for response. Yes, the layers are present in Acrobat Pro, but why Illustrator ignores them this I don't know. It's a bit annoying because I need to share the data with another designer who is working with Adobe Illustrator. What do you think is the best solution to export and share the data with him? Is it just PDF for export and that's it?

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Thank you for response. Yes, the layers are present in Acrobat Pro, but why Illustrator ignores them this I don't know. It's a bit annoying because I need to share the data with another designer who is working with Adobe Illustrator. What do you think is the best solution to export and share the data with him? Is it just PDF for export and that's it?

 

As mentioned, AI doesn't, and never has, recognized layers from a PDF.

 

Both designers ought to be working in the same application when collaborating. One of you needs to work in the other's application. It is the only sure-fire method for collaboration. 

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