Scribus 1.5.8. Unable to exclude layers when printing PDF on Mac or Windows

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apastuszak

I made a few Scribus files and used layers in them.  I export them to PDF with the 'Export Layers" option. On both Mac and Windows, using Adobe Reader And Foxit PDF Reader, I can turn on and off any layer I want, and those layers disappear off the screen. But when I print the document out, it always prints ALL the layers of the document out.

If I turn layers on and off in evince on Linux, it prints just fine. If I install evince on my Mac it also prints fine. But Adobe Reader and Foxit reader on Mac and Windows does not work.

RodneyLee

Are you saying Adobe Reader And Foxit PDF Reader cannot turn off layers and it's 1.5.8's fault?, you do know you can turn them off in Scribus with the do not print function, could Adobe Reader And Foxit PDF Reader have something like that also?

apastuszak

Adobe Reader and FoxIT can turn off layers. But even when they layer is off, it still prints out.

In Scribus, if I set the print checkbox on a layer, then it ALWAYS PRINTS in a layered PDF. If I uncheck the print option, then it ALWAYS DOESN'T print.

I loaded a layered Scribus created PDF in Adobe Acroboat Pro.  Each layer has 3 possible properties:

1. Always Print
2. Never Print
3. Print When Visible

When the checkbox is on for the layer, the exported PDF has the layer set to Always Print. When the print checkbox is unchecked, the layer in the exported PDF is set to Never Print.

I would like a way to get each layer marked as "Print When Visible," so I can turn off a layer, print the PDF and not have the layer on my printed copy.

I have other PDFs made with Adobe InDesign with layers, and those layers are set to Print When Visible, and do not print out when I turn off the layer.

I did more experimenting over the weekend, and it looks like FoxIT Reader ALWAYS prints all layers, regardless of the layer properties. And evince on Linux and Mac will not print layers that are turned off, even if they're set to Always Print.

So I could just use evince. But I distribute these PDFs for free on my website, so I need them to work on Adobe Reader.

If I load the PDF in Acrobat and change the layer properties to Print When Visible and save it, it works as expected in Adobe Reader. But I'm only on the 7 day trial for Acrobat, and I will not pay $20.00 a month just to make this change to PDFs I generate.

So I'm hoping that they can fix this in Scribus to just change the layer properties when exporting to Print When Visible.

I opened a Mantis bug for this:

https://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=16847

1.7svn is doing the same thing as 1.5.8 is.

Am I making sense?