Layered PDF

I'm wondering if it is possible to create PDF files with layers (OCG/Optional Content Group) in them using the PDF print driver.
As expected... I have an application that can produced a "flat" PDF file when printed to the "Adobe PDF" print driver (supplied with Adobe Acrobat). What I'm looking to do is add layers for the content. I would like to programmatically mark the start and end of layers from within my application. Is there any way to do this? Does the Adobe PDF print driver support ExtEscape() or any other method of embedding commands to support layers in the PDF file?
I'm not looking to write an "Export to PDF" option using the PDF SDK. The print to PDF print driver solution provides almost everything I need. What I'm missing is a way to start/end layer during the print process.
It's a Windows application, written in C/C++.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Alicia

Thanks for the reply. It wasn't the answer I was hoping for. <g><br /><br />Our application is very graphics intensive. I was hoping to take advantage of using Windows Printing API/GDI interface. I really did not want to have to reimplement code for drawing (ie; brushes with various vector and bitmap fill patterns, complex polygons, etc.).<br /><br />I'm not very familiar with the PDF SDK. It appears to be very low level and not interchangeable with the GDI interface. It looks like it would require a lot of work to convert GDI styled calls into PDF SDK function calls. Is there any sort of higher level library that would allow me to use GDI/HDC type drawing calls, yet still have access to the layer/OCG functionality? If so, that would make it much easier for me to implement an "export to PDF" type of solution.

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I'm creating a layered pdf from CS3 v5.0.3 and my layered PDF always has

a layer called "Guides and Grids". This is not a layer in my InDesign file and doesn't contain any information in the PDF. I've done a few tests thinking that maybe my actual guides were somehow coming over on a new layer from my master page, but this layer appears even if I don't use a master page or have guides at all. Is there a way for me to prevent this layer from showing up in my PDF? I have been using the merge layer option in Acrobat to get rid of it. It happens no matter if I make the layered PDF with any of the layer options in InDesign (visible, etc . . .). Any suggestions?
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Layers will only appear in a PDF if you save with PDF with at least Acrobat 6 compatibility and turn on the Create Acrobat Layers option.
So I assume that you DO want your InDesign layers to appear in the PDF file, you just don't want the Guides and Grids layer to appear. It appears turned off so it wouldn't harm anything and wouldn't print out.
There is no way in the InDesign UI for this not to happen.
There's also no way to remove layers in Acrobat in the UI except as you're already doing it. It's possible that you could program that to happen in a more automatic way with Acrobat JavaScript.
I think you'll have to live with it.

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At the moment I do this by creating a series of separate pdfs from autocad, each showing different layer(s), then overlay these in photoshop.This works but is rather cumbersome.
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Yes, thanks for that.
Autocad 2010/11 does indeed produce pdfs with a mapping of cad layers to pdf layers. So, for instance, I can have all the trees on a CAD layer and they appear on a separate pdf layer. I can switch visibility of the pdfs layers on and off within Acrobat.
Actually, you have been able to do this since about 2006 if you have both acrobat professional and autocad. When you install acrobat it creates a little menu bar add-on inside autocad for creating pdfs, and an option within that allows preservation of layer information.
What it seems I cannot do is to ask Photoshop to import that structured pdf file and keep the layered structure. Which seems a little daft given that Adobe make Photoshop and are the originators of the pdf format.
Oh, and yes, you are right that it is possible to manually save multiple pdfs out of autocad, each one having different layers visible, then reassemble them within Photoshop to re-create the layered structure. That is what I was describing as our current approach in my question. As I pointed out there, it is rather laborious. The sort of thing you would rather hope software could do automatically. Never mind!
Regards
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PDF layers are part of an overall feature known as optional content in PDF and are conceptually very different than Illustrator layers. Since PDF optional content features in general are very much a superset of Illustrator layers (PDFMaker for PowerPoint uses optional content to handle certain slide build features, for example), there would be no easy way for Illustrator to readily pick and choose what optional content features to support and translate. As such, don't expect this to be "rectified" in any way in future Illustrator releases.
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HI, Myfreelance,
Unfortunately this is not the right forum to ask such a question, so there won't be a way to get an answer here.
Might I suggest a Photoshop forum such as:
Photoshop (Mac users) http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop/photoshop_macintosh
Photoshop (Win users) http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop/photoshop_windows
You can see a list of all Photoshop forums at: http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop
--Kirsti
Adobe Community Help and Learning team

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Layered PDF

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