Sorry Jane, the answer was to Monika's reply, They are moderated so with a bit of delay. If I understand it well, your solution will work but I need to open each file in Acrobat, which is what I hoped to avoid. What I'm trying to do here is have a template file (either .ait or .ai or pdf) that I can edit in Illustrator. I need a black background to present designs to the client but don't want to print that layer (it costs a ton in toner). Unchecking the 'print' box in Illustrator is what I need but then in a PDF file I can send by email. Ivo ... View more

Elements or layers, either will do. But they must show in a PDF save out of Illustrator. I posted it here because I don't really want to edit each and every PDF in Acrobat. You can set a layer to not print in Acrobat but then I need to open them one by one which is what I am trying to avoid. If you do that in Illustrator's layer settings, it does not show in the PDF. ... View more