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Post by Tooncraft3D on Feb 13, 2015 8:04:25 GMT -9
Ok Im sure someone has asked this here before but I did a search and got 34 pages of which I checked the first few and had nothing to do with my question.
I want to make some papercraft instructions and print docs with optional layers.
Does anyone know of a PDF creator that allows you to import PSD files with layers and created a PDF document containing those layers as selectable/unselectable?
A link to a video tutorial would be the icing on the cake
Thanks for any help.
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Post by squirmydad on Feb 13, 2015 11:43:28 GMT -9
Here is what Dave Graffam had to say about his process several ears ago, I use the same process for creating the layers in my model sets; I use InDesign, and do some finishing touches with Acrobat Pro.
Expect to spend 10 or 20 minutes setting up each layered PDF page. It's easy, but it's repetitive and not very fun, so put on some music or a movie.
1. Save each layer as PNG Save each layer of the Photoshop file as its own PNG file. Make sure they have a transparent background.
Name them 01.png, 02.png, 03.png, starting at the bottom. Name each layer in the PSD file exactly the same way: 01, 02, 03, starting from the bottom.
2. Create a PNG Holding Area folder Create a folder called "PNG Holding Area" or something. It will be used for every project, so put it someplace convenient.
3. Create an action/macro Create an Action that will save tons of button-pushing later.
Working with the PSD file, hide all of the layers. Create a new Action (call it "Layers To PNGs" or something) in Photoshop. Go through each of the steps of making layer 01 the only visible layer, Saving As "01.png" into the PNG Holding Area folder, hiding that layer, making layer 02 visible, saving it as 02.png into the holding area, hiding that layer, and so on...
When the layers are all saved, Stop recording the Action. (Later, you may need to extend the Action if you have more layers. You can do that easily when needed.)
4. Move the PNGs to their own folder Now cut-and-paste all of the PNGs out of the PNG Holding Area folder into a folder of their own. This will be your source folder for your images when working in InDesign. (I usually name these source folders Page-01, Page-02, to match the PSD file names.)
5. Create an InDesign document After saving all the PNG files for a page, create a one-page InDesign document (usually 8.5" x 11", portrait, no margins).
Drag in two guides, creating crosshairs dead in the center. (There are probably accurate ways to do it -- I just eyeball it using the rulers.) At this point, save this document as a template for all of your pages. Then give this page a unique name.
6. Stack up the layers in InDesign Open the Layers palette in InDesign and then Place (shortcut Ctrl+D in Windows) that first 01.png file. Line it up using the crosshairs guides and the little "x" in the center of the image.
Create a new layer in my InDesign document, then Place 02.png on it. Repeat until all of the layers are in place. Good time to save your work.
7. Rename the layers In InDesign, rename all of the layers from 01, 02, 03 to something better.
8. Prepare the PDF Hide all of the layers except for the bare minimum that you want to appear by default when the file is opened. (The fewer layers that are visible by default, the quicker the whole PDF will function -- usually.)
9. Create the PDF Then, Export to PDF. Make sure to check the box Create Acrobat Layers. (Also mess with the image export settings to find something you can live with, in terms of final file sizes and image quality.)
10. Finishing touches with Acrobat Pro This last step is totally optional. I open the PDF file in Acrobat Pro. In the Layers menu there, I rename the "Filename.indd" to "Layers Palette." I also Lock my "Overlay" layer (the one containing my copyright badge, registration marks, cut-and-fold lines, instructions).
Mar 19, 2012, 5:25am, dragnoz wrote: Dave, is there a way to group layers?
Each PDF has just one Layers Palette. If you change the visibility of that one layer, it will hide or show all of the images on that layer even if they are different pages. (If that's what you mean by grouping layers, then the answer is yes!)
So you can create a multi-page InDesign document, create a Layer, a place as many PNGs on that layer as you want, even if the PNGs are on different pages.
Most of the detailed instructions booklets for my models are set up this way.
Example: www.davesgames.net/papercraft/pdf/Crane-House-Detailed-Instructions.pdf
(If you don't see the layers palette in this PDF, it's probably because you are viewing the PDF through your web browser. Save the PDF to your desktop and open it with Acrobat Reader instead.)
To keep things organized when setting up these kinds of files, using the same process I described earlier, each PNG layer would be named 01-01.png, 01-02.png, 01-03 (the bottom three layers of page 01), and 02-01.png, 02-02.png, 02-03.png (bottom three layers of page 02).
This would let me place all of the PNGs in one folder and let me know where to place each layer in my multi-page InDesign document. You'll have to create your own Action/Macros to automate this process and make sure the file names and save locations work for you.
Generally, using this approach should be fine if you have just a few pages, and just a few layers. Otherwise your file sizes may become manageable. If you have a lot of pages and a lot of layers, I would recommend doing them page-by-page instead.
But for a set of miniatures with five or six different color schemes? As long as you don't have more than four or five pages in your PDF, it should be fine. Just watch the file sizes. When you go over about 40Mb for a single PDF, it's time to consider another approach.
I rarely use this technique because I usually have 20 to 40 layers per page, and a 5-page PDF with so many layers on it (even if the layers were grouped) would be about 100Mb, and would be very slow on most PDF readers.
My suggestion is to keep the inverse sides.
I've released some PDFs with 50-60 layers and people seem to really like them. Layers that only contain a weapon aren't going to increase the file size very much, so you might be able to include everything on there at once.
But if you're concerned about having too many layers, or if the files sizes are too big, you don't have to eliminate any options from the finished product. This is what I'd do:
Create one "master" InDesign document with all of the layers.
Then, save "themed" versions of that file, and just eliminate some of the layers before exporting to PDF. Super quick and easy to do.
For your themes, you can create one PDF for each base color scheme (Reds.pdf, Blues.pdf, Browns.pdf), and leave all of the weapon layers. Or you can theme them by weapon types (Swords.pdf, Polearms.pdf) and include all of the base color options.
The themed approach will make the individual PDF file sizes smaller, but of course you will end up with more PDFs and your total product size (ZIPped) becomes something to consider. (I regularly offer models with 200Mb-300Mb downloads and no one's complained to me about it, but I would prefer to keep each product under 100Mb.)
For fun and added value, you can include a single-layered PDF with your favorite selections. You can go wild with these. Tweak the colors and enhance them with details that you don't find on the multi-layered PDFs (maybe because they would be too problematic, like that dual-weapon character).
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Post by Tooncraft3D on Feb 13, 2015 12:27:34 GMT -9
wow, thanks that's a lot of great info! I appreciate you taking the time to reply
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