Getting rid of layers that came from customer

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  • Getting rid of layers that came from customer

    Posted by Chris Riley on March 26, 2023 at 9:24 am

    Is there a way to get rid of Layers or flatten layers that came in with a pdf from the customer without deleting content? I have pdf files that all have layers and they look like they are from Autocad or what ever CAD program these pdfs were generated from. If I delete the layers see attached image then content goes away on the pdf, like title block information, etc.

    Vince replied 1 year, 8 months ago 5 Members · 9 Replies
  • 9 Replies
  • David Cutler

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 2:06 pm
    Points: 26,616
    Rank: UC2 Brainery Advanced Brown Belt UC2 Brainery Advanced Advanced Brown Belt Rank

    One option @ChrisRiley is to print the file to a new PDF from Bluebeam. That should eliminate any layers.

    Is there a reason why you want to remove the layers? Other than trying to figure out the designers “code” in their layer names I find it quite handy to be able to toggle the layers on and off.

    • Chris Riley

      Member
      March 27, 2023 at 9:15 am
      Points: 1,248
      Rank: UC2 Brainery Yellow Belt UC2 Brainery Yellow Belt Rank

      If I want to use Layers in Bluebeam then the Layer list gets rather long, I have tried to print these to Bluebeam Pdf and they will not print, just hangs and all you get is a ‘Cancel’ button.

      • Don Walke

        Member
        March 27, 2023 at 9:34 am
        Points: 5,399
        Rank: UC2 Brainery Purple Belt UC2 Brainery Purple Belt Rank

        I generally delete the architects layers prior to doing my take-off, as I use layers to organize and better view my work. You should get a dialog box confirming the deletion with the option of saving or removing the content of the layer.

        • Chris Riley

          Member
          March 27, 2023 at 9:57 am
          Points: 1,248
          Rank: UC2 Brainery Yellow Belt UC2 Brainery Yellow Belt Rank

          Ahh, thanks for that one. I had left content checked thinking I needed one or the other or both to be checked.

          • Don Walke

            Member
            March 30, 2023 at 12:53 pm
            Points: 5,399
            Rank: UC2 Brainery Purple Belt UC2 Brainery Purple Belt Rank

            Also, If I can isolate the layer that has a hatch showing type of wall for example, I delete the cont of that layer so that if I am trying to select a corner of a room I don’t accidentally select an intersection between a wall line and a hatch line.

            • David Cutler

              Member
              March 30, 2023 at 4:15 pm
              Points: 26,616
              Rank: UC2 Brainery Advanced Brown Belt UC2 Brainery Advanced Advanced Brown Belt Rank

              That makes sense why you would want to get the hatch out of your way @dhwalkellc

              If you wanted to preserve the hatch, but not accidentally select it you couldn’t you just turn the layer off? I’m hesitant to delete information permanently if I can avoid doing so.

            • Don Walke

              Member
              April 2, 2023 at 11:29 am
              Points: 5,399
              Rank: UC2 Brainery Purple Belt UC2 Brainery Purple Belt Rank

              I always keep an unaltered original just in case. Some architects eave up to several hundred layers in their drawings and come to think about it, maybe nest all the originals under a new collapsed “Architect” layer and keep my layers separate. 🤔

        • Nic Bitting

          Member
          March 28, 2023 at 1:31 pm
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          Rank: UC2 Brainery White Belt IIII UC2 Brainery White Belt IIII

          Thanks for the question @ChrisRiley and the response @dhwalkellc

          I’ve been trying to sort out the same thing and it looks like this will be a slick solution. Cheers!

  • Vince

    Member
    April 3, 2023 at 11:35 am
    Points: 13,660
    Rank: UC2 Brainery Blue Belt III UC2 Brainery Blue Belt III

    I’ve sent a ‘suggestion’ to Bluebeam for a function where you can batch move layers to a new group.

    This way when you open a new drawing, you will be able to move all of the existing layers to a new group e.g. “XXX – Original Drawing Layers”, then you can move this to the end of your layers list and collapse it until you need to access it at a later stage.

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