PDF layers

[fuzzytnth3]

It would be useful if ArchiCAD had the same capability as AutoCAD to create PDF files that have layers

[Karl Ottenstein]

Layers in PDF is something I hadn't heard of before. Is there a link to a PDF file that you can post (or post a small file) for me (us) to see?

Thanks,
Karl

[Djordje]

Karl wrote:
Layers in PDF is something I hadn't heard of before. Is there a link to a PDF file that you can post (or post a small file) for me (us) to see?

It was extensively covered (and still is) in UpFront eZine by Ralph Grabowski: http://www.upfrontezine.com/welcome.htm

Lots of general CAD info can be found there.

HTH,

[fuzzytnth3]

Karl wrote:
Layers in PDF is something I hadn't heard of before. Is there a link to a PDF file that you can post (or post a small file) for me (us) to see?

Thanks,
Karl

It was introduced with Acrobat 6 Professional checkout this for more info from Adobe...
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobepdf.html

Enjoy!

[Karl Ottenstein]

Thanks for the links, guys. Interesting. I can see the use (just in terms of file size reduction) of having redlining be a layer that can be turned on and off for example....

[rm]

How about being able to import PDF files into PlotMaker. I know Graphisoft has heard from the US resellers on this.....yet still no implementation, at least not in the latest PlotMaker.

[Gyuri Nyitrai]

Added to ArchiCAD Wishlist:
"Ability to create PDF files that have layers"

[Miquel Garcia]

Please remember Mac users: I thing that the 'Save as PDF...' function of the print dialog of OSX does not allow layers.

[Geoff Briggs]

Miquel wrote:
Please remember Mac users...

Indeed. Mac users are already shortchanged by not having the option to export PDFs that build in navigation links. This is a more useful feature than layers. I mean isn't one of the points of PDF that the work is now published, distilled, not editable?

[fuzzytnth3]

Geoff wrote:

Miquel wrote:
Please remember Mac users...

Indeed. Mac users are already shortchanged by not having the option to export PDFs that build in navigation links. This is a more useful feature than layers. I mean isn't one of the points of PDF that the work is now published, distilled, not editable?

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about links within the PDF file, in the case of a multi-page PDF? Or do you mean URL links?

Or am I completely missing a difference between ArchiCAD on a PC and AC on a Mac? Can you put URL links in an ArchiCAD drawing on the PC?

I agree with what you say about PDFs not being editable but I could see situations where the receipient wants to reduce the amount of data displayed to only those elements he is interested in.

[fuzzytnth3]

Geoff wrote:

Miquel wrote:
Please remember Mac users...

Indeed. Mac users are already shortchanged by not having the option to export PDFs that build in navigation links. This is a more useful feature than layers. I mean isn't one of the points of PDF that the work is now published, distilled, not editable?

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about links within the PDF file, in the case of a multi-page PDF? Or do you mean URL links?

Or am I completely missing a difference between ArchiCAD on a PC and AC on a Mac? Can you put URL links in an ArchiCAD drawing on the PC?

I agree with what you say about PDFs not being editable but I could see situations where the receipient wants to reduce the amount of data displayed to only those elements he is interested in.

[Djordje]

fuzzytnth3 wrote:

Geoff wrote:

Miquel wrote:
Please remember Mac users...

Indeed. Mac users are already shortchanged by not having the option to export PDFs that build in navigation links. This is a more useful feature than layers. I mean isn't one of the points of PDF that the work is now published, distilled, not editable?

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about links within the PDF file, in the case of a multi-page PDF? Or do you mean URL links?

Or am I completely missing a difference between ArchiCAD on a PC and AC on a Mac? Can you put URL links in an ArchiCAD drawing on the PC?

yes you can.

He is talking about Acrobat 6 format PDFs that can have layers. PDF writers for AutoCAD now have the ability to save layers too, so that you can reduce the information on the screen.

Autodesk is also pushing a new flavour of DWF - multipage documents, links within the document, etc - if viewed with Express viewer the interface and the functionality is VERY much like what we are used to in Acrobat Reader.

[Thomas Holm]

The PDF links capability is new in AC 8.1, but PC-only. Inexcusable, in my opinion. There are plenty of PDF tools in MacOSX, Apple's and third-party, and Graphisoft should have implemented this feature on the Mac too.

A demo can be found here:
http://download.graphisoft.com/ftp/ac81_demo/ac81_ajh/videos/14.htm

/thomas

[Geoff Briggs]

If I'm not mistaken, the Amuni driver, or whatever it's called that provides PDF output for PCs, will create internal links (not URLs) in a published PDF such that clicking on a section or detail marker will switch to the corresponding view. This can be done manually using Acrobat on either platform, but is done automatically for ArchiCAD users on the PC platform.

Since it's unlikely that Apple will imbue the OS X PDF drivers with the intelligence necessary to interpret AC files, the best hope for this feature to make it to Mac users is for Graphisoft to provide a specialized driver for us like they do for our PC comrades.

BTW, can someone please report on how well this works.

As to layers in PDFs, I'm all for it given the proper control. In practise I can see having maybe two or three layer or layer combos available. For example base, added detail, mark-up. But these don't match my AC layers which I'd rather not display. So some kind of translator that could combine AC layers into a single PDF layer would be necessary.

I've yet to see Acrobat 6 Professional, maybe that's the way it already works.

[owen]

Gyuri wrote:
Added to ArchiCAD Wishlist:
"Ability to create PDF files that have layers"

Ha .. 2003 makes 7 years!

So how is implementation of this wish progressing?

[Gerald Hoffman]

As we all know the Amunyi driver is not being included in AC anymore although if you have an older version you can still load it in. I tried Acrobat for awhile but felt it was too expensive for what I got out of it. It has a lot of features for the price but we don`t use most of them in everyday use.

Several years ago I came across a PDF program called Bluebeam which seems to be written with the CAD market as it`s target. It has much better markup tools than Acrobat and other things which are quite interesting and may apply to some Architects practices like doing punch lists on a Tablet PC.

It has the ability to create layered PDF files which involves creating a PDF from the AC file for each layer that you would like to include and then combining them in Bluebeam. You can ghost and compare different PDFs as well. I recommend people take a look at it. The difference between the Standard version and the CAD version is only some integration into AutoCAD of some print buttons, no difference in most functions.

http://www.bluebeam.com/web07/us/products/revu/standard/

Cheers,