PDFLayerExtract guides

Find the right route for your PDF.

Choose a workflow, follow a practical step or clarify what your file actually contains.

Choose a workflow

Start with the general decision, then pick the guide for your file or production task.

Start here

Acrobat shows layers but Illustrator opens one layer

Check the symptom, compare the available routes and decide whether surviving PDF groups will remove useful manual work.

Bring a CorelDRAW PDF’s surviving layers into Illustrator

Choose between a source export and a PDF-only handoff into Illustrator, including groups that start hidden.

CAD PDF to Illustrator: recover surviving drawing layers

See the actual drawing comparison, measured output and limits of the tested CAD-PDF handoff.

Recover dielines, white ink and varnish from a PDF

Check whether cut, white and finish artwork still has useful PDF grouping before attempting recovery.

Only have the PDF? Check what is still editable before rebuilding it

Separate missing layer organization from missing vectors, text or source history before quoting a rebuild.

Follow a practical instruction

Use these when you already know what you need to check, download or open.

Check the PDF in Acrobat

Inspect the artwork on each required page, including useful groups that are hidden by default.

What is inside the ZIP package?

Understand the separate PDFs, page size, naming and output package before handing off the job.

Import the package into Illustrator

Keep the package links together, run the included script and inspect the assembled result.

Understand the terminology

Shorter references for distinctions that change the right next step.

PDF groups and Illustrator layers

Understand why Acrobat PDF groups and Illustrator’s native layers are not the same structure.

White, varnish, cut, print and info

Distinguish artwork groups, ink names and processing-step information before treating them as interchangeable.

Layers and screen-print separations

Separate recoverable PDF groups from the ink plates and print conditions a separation job requires.

PDF to editable Illustrator file

Specify live text, vectors, named groups or native source before asking for an AI file.