How to flatten a PDF
- 1Choose the PDF, or drop it anywhere on this page.
- 2Choose Flatten it.
- 3Download the flattened document.
Nothing to install
It runs in the browser you already have, on a phone or a computer. There is no account to make first.
Deleted a day later
Your file is removed from our servers 24 hours after you last touch it, or sooner if you ask.
No watermark
What you download is your document and nothing else, on every plan.
What flattening does
An interactive PDF has layers on top of the page: form fields you can type into, tick boxes, drop-down lists, comments and highlights. Flattening draws them into the page itself. They look exactly the same, but they are no longer fields or comments. They are part of the page, like the printed text.
Why you would want to
- So answers cannot be changed. A filled-in form can otherwise be edited or cleared by anyone who opens it.
- So it looks the same everywhere. Some readers, particularly on phones and in browsers, show form fields differently or not at all. A flattened page shows what you filled in, in every reader.
- Because you were asked to. Some court filing systems, government portals and printers require flattened PDFs.
- To fix comments in place, so a reviewed copy shows its highlights and notes to everyone.
Before you flatten
- Fill everything in first. You can fill in the form and sign it in the same editor.
- Keep an unflattened copy if you might need to change an answer later.
- Flattening does not hide anything. Everything that was visible stays visible. To remove something, redact it.
After flattening
The fields are gone, but the text they held is still on the page, so it can be searched and copied like the rest of the document.
Questions
- Why flatten a form?
- So the answers cannot be changed after you send it, and so they show the same in every reader. Some portals ask for flattened PDFs.
- Can the fields still be edited afterwards?
- No. That is the point. Keep an unflattened copy if you may need to change the answers.
- What about comments and highlights?
- They become part of the page too, drawn exactly where they were.
- Can I undo it?
- Yes, before you download.