Inspiring

Question

How to "flatten" a pdf in Adobe Acrobat X Pro

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
December 30, 2012
12 replies
797244 views

Is there a feature in Adobe Acrobat X Pro similar to that in Bluebeam that allows the user to "flatten" the pdf? What this means is that images, text boxes and other additions to the pdf become seamlessly integrated into the pdf, guaranteeing they will display on other users' computers and when printed.

This topic has been closed for replies.

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TomDFromMaine

Participant

If you're on a Mac, open the file in Preview and export to pdf. The result will be flat.

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gkaiseril

Inspiring

You should be aware that Apple's Preview application causes a number of problems with form fields and the PDF structure.

Also printing a PDF to a PDF printer is known as re-frying and like re-frying a steak, the result is not good. The best approach is to use digital certificates to sign the PDF. They may not prevent modification, but they will detect and report it.

There are any number of scripts that can be added to Acrobat and 3rd party programs that can flatten PDFs.

See The practicalPDF Fix Form Utility and Introducing the practicalPDF Preview Warning for PDF Forms for some tools to detect and fix some of the problems.

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andreww79969329

Participant

Hey guys,

Forgive any formatting errors, this is my first time posting.

The best way (i've found) to flatten a pdf from Indesign is to "print" the file to a pdf (file>print>printer>adobe .pdf)

Hope this helps.

4Sahlibah

Participant

It seems I "solved" my problem of burning a watermark by printing to Adobe PDF (ensuring the print as image button was checked). This way my watermark cannot be removed through the editing tool.

I refrained from using the security feature, simply because it doesn't seem secure. 11 Ways to Unlock a Secure PDF File - wikiHow

acrobatchuck

Participant

Happy new year belated. Adobe provides a "Flatten Fields and Comments.sequ" file, with instructions located at http://blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw/files/2011/02/Flatten_doc.pdf. Has anyone tried it?

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ThewondersofAdobe

Known Participant

Adobe's instructions for how to install this feature are as dysfunction as it's inability to flatten fields in the first place. The last good thing Adobe did was invent the pdf format They are utterly incompetent and inept at designing software or working with their own creation. All I want to do is OCR page that has an added renderable text field on it. Impossible with Adobe. "Stupid" barely begins to describe this company.

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Test Screen Name

Legend

Flattening means many things in PDF, but none of them have the slightest impact on whether you can OCR.

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dbhuff

Participant

I just wanted to add, I could not find Print Production under my options to add to my tool sets. This maybe because I have the standard version? However I found a way to flatten the file: simply print to an adobe file, click on "advanced" in the print dialog, and select 'Print as Image". My new adobe file is flat as a pancake!

try67

Community Expert

Yes, Print Production is a feature of Acrobat Pro. But if you want to

flatten your files you're better off using something like this tool:

http://www.uvsar.com/projects/acrobat/flattener/

Mouse Waver

Inspiring

Hi

I've been having a similar problem with some pdf maps which have route lines added to them as markups.

When placed in Indesign as pdfs, they are not visible and Acrobat 9 Pro will not allow "print to pdf" with markups.

I tried the UVSAR Flattener Script; it worked fine on the first file, then on the second one I got an error message and the map background disappeared!

The method I've tried (after duplicating the files into a folder called "flattened pdfs") is:

- Advanced menu > Preflight…> PDF fixups… > Flatten annotations and form fields

- Click "analyse and fix".

(click Save / Replace as appropriate).

I used this "as is" without editing the settings.

You do get a reassuring green tick when it's done!

It seems to make the markups visible to InDesign…

However the line colours have shifted a bit, presumably because this method exports to CMYK and the markups were probably done in RGB? Lines are now a bit too pale. Would appreciate any tips on how to edit the fixup settings to avoid that.

File needs to end up as a pdf again, normally I'd export from InDesign - or is that too much refrying - ?

OCR - indeed I've found it less than intuitive in Acrobat, to say the least. That's another story…especially on anything with columns/tables.

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Nealf21

Inspiring

The Acrobat X help menu lists directions for flattening a file. However, it cryptically refers to the "Options menu." I see no options menu in Acrobat X Pro!!!!

try67

Community Expert

There isn't one. It was replaced by the Tools panel on the right. If you

saw such a reference then it's a mistake.

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Nealf21

Inspiring

Thanks, Gilad.

The direction came direct from Adobe. See below. Unfortunately, I see no similar command in the Tools panel listings.

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mliqu

Participant

Here is the answer for the latest Acrobat XI Pro as of 11/17/2014:

Tools / Protection / Sanitize Document (under -Hidden Information-)

Seems to work just like flatten used to, quick and easy.

Does change the appearance of fonts however. Looks like a scan now, which suits my purposes anyway.

try67

Community Expert

The best way of doing it remains using a script. Basically all you need is this command:

this.flattenPages();

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hummer777

Known Participant

I am interested in this script. Where should I place "this.flattenPages();" in Acrobat XI Pro?

Inside of Javascripts folder? Is it txt file? .

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BeyondScience

Participant

Everyone here has it wrong!!!! I am a bit annoyed with the Adobe experts here. I spent hours researching this and nobody has the answer. BUT - the fix is simple:

Zmags Community Portal

I never spend the time to post on any boards but this deserved it. Best of luck

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Bill12

Inspiring

Flattening by printing to the Adobe PDF printer will do the job, but will delete all bookmarks and related items. There are also issues with graphics that have been mentioned by the Adobe folks in the past, though my eyes have never really observed a difference. Usually, refrying (printing to PDF) is not recommended by Adobe. I will admit that I do it, but I generally am aware of what I might expect.

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Anonymous

Best answer yet.........and so easy.

Follow this link, and use a simple java script.

http://www.planetpdf.com/enterprise/article.asp?ContentID=Flatten_PDF_documents_in_Acrobat

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Ray-R

Participant

An alternate way of doing this is to print your pdf to the printer called Adobe PDF. This process will create a fully flattened pdf document.