Hi gang,
I’m running TBS 4.0 and AI CS3, on Mac 10.4, and was having trouble getting the “preserve layers” feature to work. But here’s what I’ve discovered:
You need to save your .ai file in CS2 or earlier format for the feature to work. If you leave the default format of CS3, then when importing the file into TBS you will not get separate drawing elements, just one.
Summary of the rules for using this feature:
save your .ai file with PDF compatibility and CS2 or earlier format
in TBS, use the “File” > “Import File…” menu to bring in the .ai file, and answer “Yes” to the dialog question about preserving layers
TBS will map only the top-level layers of the .ai file into separate drawing elements
have fun,
-Rick
Thanks for posting this. I am using version 4.5 and had the same experience.
I would hope they patch this for the 4.x series so that it can preserve layers on importing Illustrator CS4 files. 