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  1. #11
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    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    PDF's can have layers - I don't know if photoshop supports that I sort of assumed it did - lots of other programs do ...

  2. #12

    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    Photoshop PDFs can retain layers.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Opening a PS PDF file with layers in Xara Designer Pro X (for example) doesn't give you one 'flattened' image. All PS layers become separate object layers in Xara.

    EDIT: Steve posted while I was screenshooting and posting

  3. #13
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    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    thanks - I was sure it did but memory can play tricks..

  4. #14
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    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    And do these layers correspond to the layers in the original design file for whatever application was used to create them, and do those layers match exactly with those between applications?

    Because of what PDF is intended for, I would assume that in order to preserve these layers - which would increase the file size of the final PDF - the author would have to make very conscious and specific decisions when creating them. An author who was simply producing print copy would be unlikely to preserve them on purpose. And some flattening would surely be inevitable as a PDF is not a .xar file.

    The OP would therefore need to know if that was the case, I would suggest (i.e. yes, it's possible, but was it actually done?)

  5. #15

    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    I think you're looking for reasons to debate against this. What may have been true originally, is not so today.
    PDF files are routinely used to send files back and forth to collaborators. I believe layer retention is switched on by default.
    In fact, I think it was CS3 when Adobe adopted the PDF file structure as it's default file type for Illustrator.
    If you drop an .ai file into notepad you will see this evidence in the header.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    As an experiment, any .AI file since the format change can be simply renamed .PDF and will display in any PDF reader

  6. #16
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    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    I was thinking exactly the same about your reasons for debating the opposite!

    It matters little that layers can be preserved. What matters is are they?

    A PDF file is not the ideal source for editable material and I suspect that fact is far more relevant to the OP's question than the nuances of what they could be used for... sometimes, maybe, perhaps, etc. As I said, a PDF is not a .xar anymore than a PS file is. The main purpose of PDFs is to show the final output.

    The OP might be able to edit the file, but it's far more likely that they can't. They suggested they were having problems, and as gwpriester pointed out, trying it was "semi-successful". That's all I was tryng to get across

    I know that I can open PDFs I've saved myself from Xara, but editing them has very unpredictable results on layout. I have no idea what the result would be on those saved from other applications.
    Last edited by DOAADI; 27 December 2012 at 02:06 AM.

  7. #17

    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    As you wish...
    I have no argument, only experience and evidence.

    Best regards.

  8. #18
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    Default Re: can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

    can I just add that PDF has been around since 1991, and it is true that at that time it was a flat [ie not layered] document intended to be cross-platform and cross-application, hence the name Portable Document Format - that was a long time ago

    it was specifically intended to enable users to share documents that were created in one application with other users who did not have that application - but nowhere do I ever remember anyone saying that they were not meant to be edited - I think the fact that early on there were few practical ways of editing them meant that for a while it was a fair assumption that they would not be used for such purpose - things have moved on, a lot

    [however as far as the OP goes, although PS can export layered PDFs because of the way it handles text I am not convinced it would necessarily be editable in this case - Peter [albacore] said "no not really" and he should know.. ]

 

 

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