Why split a plan set
Full sets are convenient to issue and awkward to use. A permit portal asks for each discipline as its own upload. A subcontractor needs only the utility sheets. A document control system wants one file per sheet so revisions can be tracked sheet by sheet. Splitting the set is how one PDF becomes the files each of those people actually needs.
How to split a plan set PDF
One PDF per sheet
The default. Every sheet becomes its own file, named after the set with the sheet number, such as site-plans-sheet-07.pdf. The numbers are zero-padded so the files sort in sheet order.
Every few sheets
Type how many sheets go in each file. Useful when a system caps the size of each upload, or to break a long specification-style set into manageable parts.
Custom ranges
Type the groups you want, separated by commas: 1-2 for the cover and notes, 3-10 for civil, 11- for everything after. A range like 11- runs to the last sheet. The thumbnails show which file each sheet goes into before you split.
What stays the same
Each sheet is copied into its new file as it was: vector linework, fonts, images, sheet size, and orientation. Nothing is re-printed, so a split sheet is as sharp as the set it came from. CAD layers come along too, so every file still has a working layers panel. What doesn't carry over is anything that belonged to the whole set, such as bookmarks and page labels.
Tips for a clean split
- Fix sideways sheets first with the rotate tool, so every split file opens the right way up.
- Use custom ranges to split by discipline; check the sheet index on the cover for the breaks.
- To pull out just a few sheets into one file, use extract instead.
- Keep the original set: it is the record of what was issued together.
Where splitting comes up
- Permit portals that ask for each discipline, or each sheet, as a separate upload.
- Sending a subcontractor only the sheets for their trade, without the rest of the set.
- Document control systems that track revisions sheet by sheet.
- Breaking a set that is too large to email into parts that are not.
The sample plan set has twelve sheets, ten civil and two architectural, so you can try every split option before using your own. Split it by ranges as 1-10, 11-12 to separate the civil sheets from the architecture, then open one of the files in the PDF layer viewer to see that its layers came along.