Well, sort of. Adobe Illustrator’s multiple artboards at least created a solution for a long standing issue – creating a PDF from a layered Illustrator file.
Imagine you’ve created an Illustrator design using layers with multiple versions on said layers. Now you want to end up with these designs as a multiple page PDF. In previous versions, you would have to change the visibility (and turn the layer to non-printing) and save each layer as a separate PDF. Then combine them all back inside of Acrobat – IF you had Acrobat Pro, that is.
Well, now you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble using the multiple artboards feature in Illustrator. Here’s how:
Take your design and turn on the appropriate layers for a version.
Then select your Artboard Tool (shift+O), making sure the “Move/Copy Artwork with Artboard” button is turned on.
Hold down the Alt/Opt key and drag your artboard to duplicate the artboard. Only the visible layers will duplicate! Leave the original objects on the board – do not delete, we can ignore Artboard 1 when we save. Repeat each step, activating layers and duplicating out from Artboard 1.
When you are finished, Save As a PDF, selecting which artboards you wish to include (ignoring Artboard 1) and you are all set!
I actually really enjoy this feature when comping logos. I can create three or four artboards with different logo ideas and it’s much easier to work amongst the different designs.