Flatten a PDF
Merge form fields and annotations into a PDF’s page content so nothing in the file stays editable or interactive.
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Upload one file
Accepted: PDF
Merge form fields and annotations into a PDF’s page content so nothing in the file stays editable or interactive.
Drop files here or click to browse
Upload one file
Accepted: PDF
Merge fillable form fields and any comment/stamp/highlight annotations into the page content itself, so the result is a static PDF with nothing left to edit or click. Useful before sending a filled form or annotated document somewhere it must not be changed further.
Interactive parts of a PDF, such as form fields, checkboxes and comments, sit in a layer above the page. Flattening merges them into the page itself, so what you see is fixed: no one can change the filled-in values and the file looks the same in every reader and printer.
Flatten a form after filling it and before sending it. It also fixes forms whose entries disappear when opened in a different app.
Whatever values were already filled in are kept exactly as they appear, just baked permanently into the page instead of staying editable.
Both — an annotation with a visible appearance is drawn permanently onto the page and the original interactive object is removed; a small number of exotic annotation types without any visible appearance (e.g. bare links) are simply dropped, since there is nothing visual to preserve.
A black box over text usually leaves it in the file. How real redaction works, why "redacted" documents leak, and a checklist to use before sharing.