Remove objects from layers

Belongs to

Category: Layers
Type: Changes

What it does

Allows you to remove objects from the selected layers in a PDF document.

About PDF layers

Layered content usually comes from applications such as InDesign, AutoCAD or Visio. When converted to PDF, the layers are retained and can be viewed and navigated in Adobe Acrobat. However, if you print a PDF file that contains layers, only the content that is visible on-screen is printed. This may or may not be desired.

"Conventional" layers versus PDF layers

Layers in digital image editing ("conventional" layers) are used to separate the different elements of an image. Each element is drawn on exactly one layer. The different layers are stacked on top of each other, and the order of the layers defines how the image looks like.

Layers in PDF have a different meaning. They are used to hide or show page content:

Turning on a layer, all objects on this layer are shown on-screen.
Turning off a layer, all objects on this layer are hidden, i.e. they become invisible.

As such, layers are also called "optional content groups": groups of objects that can be selectively viewed or hidden by the author of the document. Objects can belong to different layers, and the order of the layers is of no importance.

To work with layers in a PDF document in Adobe Acrobat, select View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Layers .

For more information, refer to the Adobe Acrobat help.

How to proceed

Add a first "select" Action to the Action List, to select the layer from which you want to remove objects.
Add a second "select" Action to the Action List, to select the objects to be removed.

Note: You don't have to specify operators in between the two "select" Actions. However, you can also use combined "select" Actions to specify the layer or the objects concerned (see example 2).
Add Remove objects from layers.

Examples

Example 1: The following Action List will remove all objects from Layer1:

Select layers by name <!-- Select layers by name and set the layer name to Layer1 -->
Select all <!-- Select all -->
Remove objects from layers

Example 2: The following Action List will remove XObjects and annotations from LayerA and LayerB:

Select layers by name <!-- Select layers by name and set the layer name to equals [AB]; enable "Use regular expressions" -->
Select XObjects <!-- Select XObjects --> 
Select annotations <!-- Select annotations -->
OR
Remove objects from layers