Is there a way to flatten individual comments?

[Gerben Wierda]

I have a form that contains some labels that have been created as comments. I'd like these comments to be flattened into the document, but I'd like to leave the form fields alone. Is. there a way to do that?

[try67]

Not directly, but there are ways around it. For example, you can do the following (in this order):

- Export all comments to an FDF file.

- Delete the comments you don't want to flatten.

- Flatten the file.

- Import the comments back from the FDF file.

- Delete the comments you do want to flatten (and have already did).

[Gerben Wierda]

Not directly, but there are ways around it. For example, you can do the following (in this order):

- Export all comments to an FDF file.

- Delete the comments you don't want to flatten.

- Flatten the file.

- Import the comments back from the FDF file.

- Delete the comments you do want to flatten (and have already did).

By @try67

Step 3: flatten the file. How exactly? If I try. that using advanced optimizatio the comments are removed, not flattened. And to be precise the file has comments which I want to flatten, sticky notes (that only show up in macOS Preview), and form fields) thar I want to leave alone.

[JR Boulay · Accepted solution]

Selective Flattener is a free plugin for Acrobat: https://www.uvsar.com/projects/acrobat/flattener/

[Gerben Wierda]

That seems an easy solution. Is there a safe way to install this outside the application bundle on macOS?  It seems that inside the bundle is a location that may get overwritten on updates. I think I used to have a flatten operation like that when I was still using Acrobat X Pro.

[Gerben Wierda]

Selective Flattener is a free plugin for Acrobat: https://www.uvsar.com/projects/acrobat/flattener/

By @JR Boulay

I installed this in the bundle and when I open a file I get three suboptions under Edit->Flatten:

• Flatten forms and comments (gives 'an internal error occurred')
• Flatten everything (gives an 'are you sure') and then proceeds to flatten everything
• Online help (produces 'an internal error occurred')

Neither gives me the panel above where I can selectively choose to flatten comments and not forms.

But after checking (in Preferences) Enable menu item Javascript execution privileges, I did get the panel. I tried to flatten all comments. So I checked everything under annotations and unchecked the rest and flattened. It told me: one comment flattened, but before the action I had 10 comments and afterwards still 10. I tried removing Sticky Notes only, this removed a single annotation, so probably that removes the Sticky Note that only shows up in macOS Preview.

The Comments are unaffected, so for my document it seems not to work

[Gerben Wierda]

Never mind. The comments were text boxes, not annotations. My lack of Adobe know how.