Problem Flattening a PDF

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

I recently encountered a problem when trying to flatten a PDF. I successfully flattened one a month ago, but now I am having issues. These are the steps I used:
1. Preflight: Flatten annotations and form fields.

2. Flattener Preview: I left all defaults the same EXCEPT I checked the box "Convert All Text to Outlines".

  As I previously said, this worked perfectly a month ago. To check that it was flattened, I was not able to use the highlighter tool, confirming that it was indeed flattened.

  But, trying this same method numerous times in the last few days (and on numerous pdf''s), the highlighter tool IS available, telling me that the file is not flattened.

I'm pulling my hair out. Help!

[Amal.]

Hi there

Hope you are doing well and sorry to keep you waiting. As described you are experiencing issues while flattening the PDF file.

Have you started experiencing this issue after the recent release of the version 21.11.20039?

What happens when you try to flatten a PDF file? Do you get any error message? If yes, please share the screenshot of the same for a better understanding.

Would you mind sharing the version of the Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version installed and reboot the computer once.

Also try to repair the installation from the help menu (Windows Only)  and reboot the computer again.

Also, a small video recording of the issue and the sample PDF file would be very helpful. To know how to share the file please check the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/document-cloud/help/sharing-pdfs.html

Regards

Amal

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

Amal,

Thank you for your reply.

The version I have is 21.11.20039. I'm not sure when this was released.

I successfully flattened a file on 28 Nov 21 but not sure what the version was back then.

But every failed attempt in the past couple of weeks was with the current version.

It is puzzling, but today I tried to flatten another old document and it worked. Then I created 2 new documents from scratch, one flattened and the other didn't.

Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

[Amal.]

Hi there

We are sorry to hear that and thankyou for sharing the information. Would you mind sharing the workflow/steps you are doing to create the PDF file?

A small video recording would be very helpful.

Regards

Amal

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

Hello Amal,

Thank you for your previous response. I am attaching a PDF of the steps/process I have taken when trying to flatten a pdf. Any advice/suggestions will be appreciated!

Thanks,

Julie

[Amal.]

Hi there,

Please update the application to the recent version 22.1.20085 from the help menu and reboot the computer once. 

You may also download the patch manually from the link https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/index.html

Regards

Amal

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

Nope. Didn't work. I installed the update, rebooted, but still the same problem.

[Test Screen Name]

Your process is flawed. Step 2 is not a general, magic, text flattener. It is a TRANSPARENCY flattener only, for no other purpose. Text conversion options apply only if there is transparency which cannot keep active text. Adobe works hard to keep active text, as it should. 

Yiu are trying to do a third kind of "flattening".

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

Thank you for your reply. This particular pdf is for a print magazine (Modern Drummer). They ask that it be sent as a flattened pdf, if possible. So, other than that, just trying to submit in the format they requested!

[Martin D2]

Just wanted to point out that Adobe recommends the process that you called "flawed" to turn an interactive PDF into a non-interactive PDF.  Link to help article: https://www.adobe.com/au/acrobat/roc/blog/how-to-flatten-a-pdf.html

Sample text from article: 

How to flatten a PDF in Adobe Acrobat.

Adobe Acrobat provides comprehensive tools for working with PDF documents, including flattening. There are several ways to flatten a PDF using Adobe Acrobat. Here, we’ve outlined the simplest version:

1. Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
2. Click on "File" in the top-left corner of the window.
3. Select “Open” from the dropdown menu and select the PDF document you want to flatten.
4. Select the “Print Production” tool under “Tools”.
5. In the “Print Production” menu, click on the “Flattener Preview”.
6. Review and customise the settings in the dialogue box according to your preferences, for example, if you only want to flatten specific pages in the document.
7. Click the “Apply” button and click “Yes” when the confirmation prompt appears.
8. Once the document is flattened, save it in your desired location by clicking on “File” and then “Save As”.

After completing these steps, your PDF will be flattened, with all interactive elements like annotations, form fields, and multimedia either removed or integrated into the document's base layer.

[Martin D2]

I did forget to add that the instructions given by Adobe in their help article, they are either incomplete or wrong. Although I'm not skilled enough to work out what steps are missing from that article. Looks like it was written by AI and not checked to see if it actually works. 

I anyone else getting tired of paying for a product and then still having to do testing and bug finding work for adobe? Isn't that their job, not the job of the paying user? Is it too much to ask to have help articles checked to see if they work?

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

I reads as if you are conflating flattening and outlining text. 

What do you want to do:

Flatten form fields/comments,

Flatten transparency, or

Outline text (this can be part of transparency flattening but only for text affected by transparency as @Test Screen Name noted)?

Also, the highlighter tool can work on other objects other than text, so this test is not always conclusive. 

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

Thank you for your reply. This particular pdf is for a print magazine (Modern Drummer). They ask that it be sent as a flattened pdf, if possible. So, other than that, I'm just trying to submit in the format they requested!
  The other format option is an EPS, which has worked fine so far. But it still bugs me that one of the ads (there are two different ones) flattens just fine, but this other one??  I guess I really don't know what the flattening process does, and why they specifically request it.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Convert the PDF to PDF/X-1a or just flatten transparency. A flattened PDF, in this context, doesn't need the text outlined (unless they specified that separately).* If you used InDesign, you can export directly to PDF/X-1a. 

*EDIT: Their rate card does specify that fonts are converted to outlines. 

(I was art director for Modern Drummer in the back in the 80s for about 7 years.)

[Luke Jennings3]

There is another single preflight fixup you can try (under the blue wrench icon), it's probably the same fixup, but without changing form fields. 

Any comments should appear on the list of comments when the comment tool is selected and the list is expanded (little triangle is turned). After running the preflight, the comment list should say "No comments yet". If you are still having issues, can you upload the actual pdf so we can check it? Do you need to outline the type? There are many good reasons not to do that.

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

Thanks, Luke. I'll give this a try. As far as your question, do I need to outline the text? Well, I wanted the promo code to be enclosed in a box. As you can tell, I am definitely an amatur at this!

This is my response to a previous reply:

This particular pdf is for a print magazine (Modern Drummer). They ask that it be sent as a flattened pdf, if possible. So, other than that, I'm just trying to submit in the format they requested!
  The other format option is an EPS, which has worked fine so far. But it still bugs me that one of the ads (there are two different ones) flattens just fine, but this other one??  I guess I really don't know what the flattening process does, and why they specifically request it.

[Luke Jennings3]

Exporting to a PDF/X-1a (or converting to PDF/X-1a in Acrobat) is a pretty safe choice to meet the printer's specs, however, your pdf has text added as a pdf comment and there is a chance this won't print, which is why it is important to flatten it using the preflight profile I mentioned. (It's usually better to add the code and all other elements in the original application). Also, converting a pdf to PDF/X-1a appears to move the text comment out of the trim area, so your code would not appear in your ad when printed. 

Check your final pdf in Acrobat using the Output Preview tool to check the separations. Your Acrobat page display preference to show overprinting should be set to "Always".

I suspect they don't actually need the type converted to outlines, this sounds like someone forgot to update their specs somewhere. I would give them a quick call and ask them if PDF/X-4 is acceptable, and leave it at that.

[s7media]

Hi there, I appreciate this topic is a few months old now, and came across your post as I was having the same issue.

I might have found a solution thanks to this website:

https://www.w3pedia.com/uk/convert-text-to-outlines-in-adobe-acrobat#:~:text=Open%20your%20PDF%20in%....

Here are the steps, seems to work for me:

1.  Check for all fonts present by selecting  Adobe > File > Properties > Fonts, any in the doc will be listed here
2.  Select Tools > Pages > Watermark > Add Watermark...  in the dialogue box put a Full Stop in the Text box, Set Opacity to 0%, Select Apply to multiple, Click OK
3.  Now select Tools > Print Production > Flattener Preview. Tick Convert All Text To Outlines. Under Apply to PDF, select All pages in document, click Apply. Click Ok
4.  Fonts should now be converted to paths. Check Adobe > File > Properties > Fonts, list should be empty.

[JR Boulay · Accepted solution]

This is not a good practice.
There is a dedicated feature that is simpler and faster:

[Julianne22759134mu2m]

My quesion has been answered. No more replies needed. Thanks to all that resonded.