Why extract sheets
Most people who receive a plan set need part of it. The paving contractor needs the site and grading sheets, the reviewer of a resubmittal needs the three revised sheets, and the utility company needs the one sheet with its crossing. Sending the whole set makes them hunt; sending exactly the sheets they need makes the request clear and the file small.
How to extract sheets from a plan set
- Open the PDF. Every sheet appears as a thumbnail, rendered as you scroll so even a long set opens quickly.
- Click the sheets you want. Selected sheets are outlined and counted.
- Or type them: 1, 4-6, 12 selects sheets 1, 4, 5, 6, and 12. A range like 14- runs to the last sheet.
- Choose Extract. The new PDF downloads with those sheets in set order.
Exactly the sheets, exactly as drawn
Extracted sheets are copied as they are: vector linework, fonts, images, sheet size, and orientation. Nothing is re-printed or flattened, so a detail extracted from a 24 x 36 sheet zooms just as cleanly as in the set. CAD layers come with them, so the extracted sheets still have a working layers panel. Bookmarks and page labels belong to the whole set and aren't copied.
Extract, split, or merge
Extract when you want one new PDF made of some sheets. Split when you want the whole set broken into several files, one per sheet or per range. Merge when you have several files and want one. Together they cover most of what happens to a plan set between issue and construction: pull the revised sheets out of the resubmittal, merge them with the rest, and send one clean set.
Before you send it
- Include the cover or general notes sheet if the extracted sheets refer to its legend or abbreviations.
- Check that sideways sheets read correctly; fix any with the rotate tool.
- Put the sheet numbers in the file name so the recipient knows what they have.
Where extracting comes up
- Sending the revised sheets from a resubmittal, so the reviewer sees only what changed.
- Giving a utility company the one sheet with its crossing.
- Pulling the details sheet out of a set to attach to an RFI.
- Making a small file of the site plan for a neighbor notice or a board packet.
Try it with the sample plan set: twelve sheets, each with the PDF layers a CAD export carries. Type 5-6 and choose Select to pull out the grading and erosion control plans, then extract them into a file of their own.