How to flatten a PDF form
- Drop your PDF file on the box above, or click it to choose the file — or press Load a sample to try it first.
- Check the settings below the box; the defaults suit most files.
- Press Convert. Long jobs show a progress bar and can be cancelled; you then see what was made and its real size.
- Download the .pdf file.
What is kept when you flatten a PDF form
- Text boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down lists, list boxes and buttons are drawn into the page exactly as their saved appearance shows them — what you see in a PDF reader is what stays. Hidden fields stay hidden.
- The form is then removed: the result has no fields, so it cannot be filled in or changed in a form-filling reader. Page text, images, links and comments are kept.
- Refused, with the reason: XFA forms (Adobe LiveCycle), forms that ask the reader to redraw their fields, filled fields with no saved appearance, digitally signed forms and PDFs with no form at all. Open such a form in a PDF reader and save or print it to PDF first.
Example
Flattening the sample form — the answers become part of the page text:
Input
sample-form.pdf — 2 pages, 10 fields, 12 widgets (17.9 KB)Output
11 widgets drawn into the pages, 1 hidden one removed; 0 form fields left (13.8 KB)
Text of page 1 now includes:
Jane Doe
Nepal
REF-77About PDF files
A PDF holds pages that look the same on every device: text with its fonts, vector drawings and images at fixed positions. Pages can be rotated, reordered or copied between files without redrawing them. It opens in any browser, Acrobat Reader, phone and tablet viewers.
Good to know
- A PDF that asks for a password when you open it cannot be processed here; protection is never removed.
Privacy and limits
The file is read and converted by this page in your browser; there is no upload and no account. Nothing inside a PDF is run: there is no PDF JavaScript engine on this page, and links and forms are copied, not followed. Encrypted PDFs are refused rather than unlocked. PDFs may have up to 2,000 pages. Files up to 150 MB are accepted; a file of the wrong type or a damaged file is rejected with the reason.