Re: Exporting .ai to .pdf or .eps layer border

when you save the PDF... look in the dialog box... try checking the Preserve illustrator editing capability off. basically when this is on, it keeps everything live. stuff like transparency mask and or gradients. This also can drive the file size up.
one other thing you can do is use save for the web jpegs and then bring those into photoshop and re-save as PDFs. this will flatten the image and remove any editing controls. if neither of these options help please let me know and i can help find a workaround.