Illustrator wont export layers to Photoshop

[Thomas_Bricker@adobeforums.com]

Im pissed!
WHY wont Illustrator CS eport all my layered files into Photoshop.
Some of my files do it successfully and others simply will not.
What makes a file fail to export it's layers.
I've tried everything and cant figure it out.

Any ideas?

[Steve_Werner@adobeforums.com]

Have you read the section on exporting PSD files in Illustrator CS Help?

[Scott_Weichert@adobeforums.com]

Color Modes of AI documents and the use of transparency will both effect how documents are exported to Photoshop.

[Thomas_Bricker@adobeforums.com]

Yes I did read the help in Illustrator CS.
And what is the prefered color mode for exporting to Photoshop?
And yes I am using transparency which is supposed to carry over...

[Evert_Krooswijk@adobeforums.com]

I've had the same problem as you've been having.

I think the reason why some files using transparancy fail to export properly is because illustrator assigns transparancy-blendmode to objects, regardless of the layer they are in, while photoshop can only assign a single blendmode to layers.

try to use only one sort of blendmode per layer in illustrator and then try to export your file to photoshop.

good luck

[Scott_Weichert@adobeforums.com]

Transparency doesn't exactly carry over. Only some blend modes do, as for which modes and how they are applied I haven't had the time to figure it out. I simply don't use transparency in Illustrator if the file is going to go to Photoshop and retain layers.

The only real way to test is to turn of one layer... export ... open in PS and see what layers came through. Then go back and repeat until you narrow down to what exactly is causing flattening. CMYK mode seems to work a little better and generally in Photoshop if you end up with a layer named "Layer 1+ Layer 2 + Layer 3+ Layer 4" Whatever the last layer is is where the object is getting flattened.

Just my observations.

[ian_overseas@adobeforums.com]

....and another workaround to consider when exporting Adobe Illustrator layers to the Photoshop layered format.

It’s obviously desirable to keep layers where at all possible. Following on from Scott’s solution of narrowing down which layer is causing the complete layer collapse and flattening when exporting to the Photoshop format – it is of course possible to isolate the layer, and rasterise it in Illustrator before exporting.

Imagine the following scenario:
* Your Illustrator file has six layers.
* You have established that one of these layers is causing the complete collapse and flattening of all layers when exporting to the Photoshop layered format (which Illustrator warns of in its help files).
* Duplicate this layer, rasterise the duplicate layer (using transparent background), turn off the original copy of that layer – and then export the resulting layered file (now with six visible layers and one invisible) to the Photoshop layered format.

....so you still have your original offending layer for further editing if required (invisible and hence inactive in Illustrator when exporting to the Photoshop format), simply requiring another duplication and rasterisation if changed.

This method won’t work quite as well when an offending layer is blending over ones beneath it. In this case, it might be worth investigating whether a blend mode can be temporarily turned off (like Multiply for example) and then reactivated in Photoshop.

Good luck!

[Unregistered]

Does you file have objects that are grouped? All you have to do is ungroup them. The file will export fine.

[Web Development]

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