How to flatten an image in Adobe Acrobat Standard DC

[trevorc26844455]

Im just trying to flatten an image in Adobe Acrobat and I cant figure out how to do it. This is rediculous. so frustrated. I went to the layers tab and opened the option menu but the is no option to flatten. Please make this easier. Why do I not have an option to do this. or why is it so hidden. stupid!!!!!!!!!! so much easier in Bluebeam.

[gkaiseril]

With the introduction of Acrobat 10.1.1 and Reader 10.1.1 the location of the user JavaScript folder changed and is not obtainable using JavaScript until at least one user folder level JavaScript has been added.

User JavaScript changes for Acrobat or Reader 10.1.1

Instructions for Installing Folder Level Scripts (Automation Tools) and Plug-ins

This folder is used by both Acrobat and Reader so some older scripts need to be revised to include some code to not install the menu item when Reader is opened.

The folder is also product number or level dependent. For Acrobat/Reader 10 it is /appdata/acrobat//10/privileged. For Acrobat/Reader 11 the 10 is replaced by 11 and for DC the 10 is replaced by DC.

[Kristen244436162o3y]

So this is several years too late, but I came looking for something similar, and found very few solutions better than my own work arounds. I quite often need to crop pdf pages in half or smaller sections and move them apart to insert something else between. This gets difficult with multiple images/objects/text boxes (I'm a music librarian and the when you export notation software files to PDF every thing is it's own "box"). I usually use the "optimize" function. This flattens pages for me as well as deskews should a scanned page be a bit wonky. However this does not work with pages that have "renderable text".  My work around for this is to export the pages as TIFF files and then reconvert them to PDF. You can do this batch style. It is not perfect, but it does mean not having to figure out the javascript or add on tools. Hope this helps someone wanting to "flatten" pages.  

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

It is possible that what you remember was not part of Acrobat, but something added to a menu by JavaScript or an Acrobat plug-in.

[Randy5CDE]

This thread is kind of old but as I was reading this I had to open an account just to comment.  Yes I totally understand what flatten means.  We use that term everyday to mean that all of the elements added to the PDF file, including text images and any other mark on it will not be editable by anyone else.  It is suck in one place and cannot be moved in any way.  But I do not used Adobe and quite frankly I can’t stand it.  I have been using PDF-XChange for a long time and it is the easiest and most user friendly PDF program on the market.  The reason I found this is because I was going to attempt to show a friend that uses adobe how to use flatten and I could not find it so I started a search.  Well I will try to convince my friend to get PDF-Xchange in stead.

[try67]

What you understand by "flatten" is not what others might understand, and as mentioned above (see the Correct reply to this thread), it can mean at least three different things in Acrobat.

What you're describing can possibly be achieved by exporting all pages as images, then creating a new file and then digitally signing and/or applying a security policy to that file.

[Test Screen Name]

To my knowledge they never came with Acrobat. Did you personally install Acrobat on your own computer? Could be a company standard.

[jynx4933]

I did do the install, the version that I was running previously was Acrobat 9 Standard and was from a disc.  As far as I know I never added any scripts or downloaded any add-ons.  Now that doesn't mean that something may not have installed during an update, but I personally never added any scripts.  Prior to getting my new PC and installing the the current Pro 2017 software, I had used only that version.

There is a part of me that wants to install it so that I can get a screen grab of the toolbar that I am talking about straight off the factory install or perhaps I can get to it from my older machine.  I honestly am not a computer wiz and all the talk about having to add user level folders and changing code for newer versions is off-putting.  We paid a lot of money for the software and to have , what we consider, basic functions taken away that everyone in our small office has used regularly seems up until now is disheartening.  I know we don't hold several hundred licenses and our contribution is trivial in the grand scheme, but when I can download a free software, or a much less expensive software that has these functions readily available, I feel a bit cheated.  I mean, you have my money at this point, so haha, jokes on me I guess, but if the functionality of the new version is too cumbersome, or if we can't find a way past some of the interface issues then I suppose we will have to move on to a different software platform that can give us the tools we need. 

I understand that things need to change.  I am a creature of habit, and I went and got Adobe because it was familiar (I thought) and I felt I could pick right up and continue working on things right where I left off, but to be honest, the lost productivity from trying to figure out how to do some of the simplest things that had been relatively old hat could have been just as well put towards becoming more familiar with a different software at this point. 

I am not the only one in our small office that is having the same issue as we are upgrading several PC's, so I suppose we will just have to find a way to work with the new interface, or we will look for other options.  I like adobe and have for years, but jumping to this newer version, I feel like it has been "fixed til it is broke".

Thank you all for your replies, and I hope that I can find a solution to this issue that works for me.  If not, I will adapt or move on to something else.

[Gerard235806346bqg]

I was equally frustrated. Simple solution (I'm working with Acrobat XI). Go to this page and download: "Flatten Comments and Form Fields" It will add the utility to your Tools/Action Wizard directory. Don't even have to know Javascript. Other great tools are on that website: https://acrobatusers.com/actions-exchange/?trackingid=JZXYQ

 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Or one can use File > Save As Other... > Optimized PDF and select Discard Object section and then Flatten Form Fields. 

It's been a while since I used XI, but it had the Optimize PDF option (but may not be under Save As Other menu).

[staylor.DS.12650]

Its 2024 and this is the only place I found that addressed this question, so I'd like to offer what I figured out after weeks of trying... unless of course, this is addressed somewhere else within the conversation. I currently use Adobe Standard 2020 and if you only need to flatten in order to reduce the file size, here are the steps that worked for me

Step 1 – open Page Thumbnails on the left side toolbar
Step 2 – Choose View > Page Navigation > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Layers (you can right click here and add Layers to the toolbar)
Step 3 – On the left view screen, all of the layers are listed (if there are none, no need to flatten)
Step 4 – At the top, underneath the Layers heading, click the dropdown box and select Collapse All
Leave the original as is and save the Collapsed file separately (for security purposes). Compare the kb/mb size of each, the Collapsed file should be considerably smaller.