Layer Identification

[destruct]

Hello!

Is there a way to identify which items/vectors/objects/etc. in a PDF belongs to whichever layer in the PDF? Something like an "Inspect" tool to show which layer something is on?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, destruct

The "properties" pane (Ctrl_~) shows which layer an item is on, if it has been assigned to one (or can exist on a layer).

Kind regards,

[destruct]

What about any of the lines/vectors shown in the PDF?

For example, when plotting a drawing from AutoCAD, the layers in the drawing get converted to PDF layers. After a drawing is plotted, is there a way to see which lines correlate to which layers?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, destruct

You can select each of those items with the "edit objects" tool , which will again show the layer in the properties pane. Alternatively, assuming that there is nothing which is not assigned to a layer, you could hide all other layers from the layers pane (Ctrl_L) to see only items present on the visible layer.

I should note that layers in PDF do not operate as they do in other formats. They exist here solely intended as a form of "visibility toggle". In practice, they will not be able to fulfil quite the same purposes for a PDF, as they do in CAD or image editing software. Chiefly, re-ordering layers does not and will not have any impact on content order. Items on layer 1 can and do appear in front of some items on layer 5, while also appearing behind some items on layer 10. Content order is entirely separate from layers in PDF.

Kind regards,